Men of War: Ultimate
by EZB
Summary: The Chief and the Gears are back! Following the events of Halo 3, The Master Chief lands on the war-torn planet of Sera. With a new world and war to sink his teeth into, the Spartan must join ranks with the notorious Gears of War to fight for humanity.
1. So Much For Sleep

"Wake me, when I'm needed."

His words tore her. Cortana could only watch as the cryostats chamber closed with what should have been a hiss, only giving more power to the lack of atmosphere in the zero-gravity environment of the decapitated vessel. When on earth could she hear from him again, listen to fresh human tongue and not the recordings of him playing endlessly, seamlessly, in her mind. How long could it take for someone to find them?

Her thought process however turned her to the remaining guts of the ship. Due to the massive damage it had taken during the splitting of the hull, power and systems had immediately shut down to conserve energy. With the smallest effort she willed internal and external sensors to power up, leaving the ship to rest quietly.

Minutes passed as the ship struggled to giver her concrete readings. She knew that for any other living creature from a terrestrial world, the ship was dead. But as she allowed the external sensors to report their findings, she was surprised. The ship was not only in a planetary system, but had a planet of life-sustaining atmosphere. "What do we have here?" she hummed, focusing the controls onto this planet. It was not only capable of supporting life, but it already had it. Studying it from a distance gave her clues, but only through the progression of several hours did she realize not only this planet was close, it was getting closer.

The stasis chamber slowly opened to her silent orders, and a frozen hero shook his head in soreness.

"That didn't feel like a very long nap, Cortana," Master Chief stated.

"I can't argue with that," she retorted with half a smile," looks like sleep is out of the option, unless you want an even ruder awakening."

"Flood?" the Spartan asked, attempting to lightly float to the platform her holographic body hovered by.

"No. This ship is about to get a hell of a burial," Cortana allowed some more power to be used, showing another holographic image of the approaching planet. "There's no helping it chief; the Dawn simply doesn't have enough power to steer close and we're already picking up speed." He nodded, and spun his head around. There was planning to be done. "From what I've gathered on surface scans, this planet is habited. Cities, roads, we're talking at least post-industrial civilization."

"Friendly?" He demanded.

"I… can't say. I'm not getting any UNSC signals, and we're not being hailed by any vessel. But… I am sure it's human."

"So we don't know if we're getting a friendly reunion."

"No… and by the looks of it, we may be landing in the middle of some sort of massive conflict," Cortana continued, zooming on the planets surface to indicate massive scorch marks on the surface and cities in ruin. "So I can't say."

"Cortana… which system is this?" the Chief suddenly asked. He was aware they were still light-years out in the galaxy that the covenant hadn't destroyed, but he felt funny about this.

"I… I don't know. All I do know is that I don't recognize the system form my memory databanks, and… and there are no other recorded stars in the immediate databanks. It might just be the computer being damage, but I have no idea where we are, based on star calligraphy." The chief paused, and finally spun around, and pushed himself into a corridor. "Where are you going?"

"Salvaging."

An hour and a half later the chief was finishing his final touches. The ship still had its escape pods attached, and giving that he had roughly minutes before the remains of the hull went crashing in the atmosphere, he had to rush himself. The armory was now looking devoid of weapons, something that was an accomplishment at best. His arms filled with guns of all sorts, he tossed them haphazardly into each pod he passed, closing them shut as he passed.

"I hope this isn't your idea of a peace offering to however is down there," Cortana mocked as she appeared on a panel behind him. "The day it rains weapons a lot of people will be happy… and afraid."

"They're for me. Can't afford to be generous, yet," he said, pausing as he turned back to the armory, scanning for any more weapons. This wasn't all the ship had to offer, but the heavy armor and mobile units section was on the other side of the wreck. He didn't have the time to get whatever waited with the last bits of tanks and warthogs.

"I can have the pods open up on my signal, that way we can minimize the possibility of others getting their hands on these," Cortana suggested, mentally programming the pods for command override. "Chief..."

"How long do we have?"

"About five minutes. We should get a head start on the Dawn before it all goes to hell."

He nodded, and finally laid the last weapons into the final pod. Sealing it shut, he pushed himself over to the ejection sequence pad. Sliding the glass with 'Caution: Escape pod de-compression' open, he prepared the launch, forcing the red lights to go off, giving the eerie lack of atmosphere a real calling. "Emergency ejection sequence initiated; please evacuate the armory for decompression," the system called into his com system. As the countdown began he turned and shoved to Cortana. Stopping himself just before her, he removed the small holographic chip and held it before her.

"Time for us to go," he said. Glancing once more at the ship, Cortana walked onto and vanished above the chip, allowing the chief to readily slide it back into his helmet.

"I know you've already done this… but how did it go last time you did an orbital launch?"

"It wasn't orbital. I leapt off at mid-atmospheric level. So… this is going to be a little bumpier," The chief corrected her, just as the pods each began to eject silently, allowing the incoming planet to bounce off of the helmet visor. He floated closer and closer to one of the now empty holes in the hull, and glanced around at space. "Wish me luck?" He gripped the sides of the hull.

"…Good Luck," She replied.

Aiming for the trajectory of the escape pods, he jumped.

* * *

Somewhere distant, a nearly pitch black room housed a sleeping man in uniform. Surrounded in this huge room with various sizes of monitors, his chest heaved up and down, breathing slowly. One of these monitors suddenly beeped, catching a snort from his slowly awaking body.

"Whassit…" he groaned, his sleepy, energy devoid face staring blankly at the monitor directly in front of him as he pushed a small microphone out of his face. A line graph representation of the planet and its orbital features showed something descending.

"What is it?" a voice called from a small speaker the size of a plate next to him. "Are you getting something in high orbit?"

"'Nother damn satellite malfunctioning I bet, just started coming down…" the young man replied, placing a hand in his unorganized brown hair that glowed blue in the light. "Wait… wait a second," he shook his head and blinked. The object had no coding. Readjusting his position in the chair, he scrolled himself down to another panel, and began a scan from adjacent satellites. The object was no satellite falling from the sky. This thing was huge. "What the hell?"

"What?" the speaker called again. "Satellite again, right?"

"I… um…" the young man turned back to the graph, and looked back several hours ago, just when he fell asleep. "I… we, we have something unidentified!"

"WHAT?"

"Get your ass over here and help me out!" the uniformed man shouted with adrenaline bound excitement. "We actually have something! It just came out of nowhere!" the speaker had sudden spikes, the man he spoke to had obviously thrown his speakers down. A moment or two later distant doors opened, and a similar man, shaven of hair and of darker complexion ran next to him, staring over his shoulder at the screen. "God damn that's something!"

"Look at the size," the formerly sleeping one directed to another, smaller screen, reading off stats scanned from several satellites at once. "This thing isn't any meteorite… its huge- almost two hundred and fifty meters, and its hollow- signs of composite aluminum and re-enforced steels… dude," the one sitting turned to his accomplice, who ran to the right, and began typing at a large keyboard," This… this thing was constructed."

And the newcomer activated the largest monitor in the room, specifically designed to catch perfect quality video. A live screen of low orbit showing a section of the planet was displayed, with a code for the imaging satellite at the corning reading frames per second and other statistics. Several small objects rocket to the earth, one slightly behind the others.

"That… that one looks like it's a body," the one with hair said, getting up to watch; a small medal dog tag shaped like a cog reflecting in the light at his collar.

"Where is the-" the second said, just as the entire screen was eclipsed by the massive form of a space ship flew past them. This sight was enough to have their mouths fall open as windows, turrets and obvious signs of technology soared past them, ghost like. Only after it passed did the camera turn and follow its progress, also exposing massive damage to the hull of 'it'. "…It looks like this job just got a lot harder."

"Track it," the one with messy hair demanded, as the other turned and rushed out. "I'll get a line out. Time it and get me as much data as I can present to the higher ups! Time to tell Colonel Hoffman we have something."

Only minutes after the call was made, one major had run down to the dark room of no name, and began his interrogation. Already he wanted more answers than the two had to possibly provide.

"I can't present 'it just appeared out of nowhere' to Hoffman!" the major growled staring up at the frozen image of the ship past the satellite. "Something of non-Seral origin is about to crash down on our surface, has markings of some sort of intelligent design, and you're telling me we have no data on it-"

"I tracked it back by about two hours. This thing was nearby when it grappled onto our gravity, and-"

"I understand basic physics, private," the major reprimanded him. "What I don't understand is how did this thing appear out cosmic space from nothing, our satellites detect it, and we didn't notice it?" at this, the two privates exchanged a glance of knowing. The job had never anything to do, and while one had slept the other had plenty of time to watch wonderful ladies dance for him naked on computer screens meant for space observation.

"Ahem- technical difficulties I imagine," the bald private stated.

"Technical difficulties had us loose track of this thing for almost an hour and half before it caught our attention?" the major asked in ridiculed anger. "Do I look stupid?"

"It's a long fucking job!"

"I swear that-"

"Major Frost," a gruff, built voice called from the darkness behind them. The two privates immediately stood straight, their hands at their side. Frost followed suit, but turned sideways, presenting the two to a coming Colonel Hoffman. Emerging from the shadows, the aged soldier stepped up. Sis hard built face and cold brown eyes staring each one a little before walking up and saluting briefly. The three followed suit. "At ease. I believe you all have something to show me… this little hunk of metal here I take it?"

"Yes sir," the major followed behind the Colonel, allowing him the good view of the massive ship.

"What's the story behind this thing then? It didn't sound like we lost another Hod satellite came down today," the colonel inspected the sight slowly. "Replay this recording."

"Sir," the first Private responded, rushing for the console and rapidly punching keys.

"Sir, roughly two hours ago our satellites caught this just outside high-orbit, just as it began a descent. We… we can't get anything specific on it… but from markings on the side of the ship," the major turned his head to the private working on the controls," Goldman," the recording sped back to just as the ship passed," Halt there," the video stopped, showing a single word, 'Dawn'.

"Well… isn't that something," Hoffman stared, actually surprised at their discovery. "Why did it take us this long to track this object?"

"There was a glitch in the observing satellite that prevented us from knowing until about minutes ago," the major lied casually.

"How long until this thing enters our atmosphere?"

"Atmospheric entry should be in the next fifteen minutes," the second private answered. Hoffman immediately turned away from monitor.

"Lights!" to his order, many luminescent bulbs in a ceiling high above sparkled on, killing the huge shadow, and exposing several soldiers at the door, waiting for the colonel. "I want to know where this thing is going to land, if not, landed within five minutes. I don't know what or how, but it looks like we have some sort of visitors. Also," he turned, staring at Frost," I want you to start investigating. Major frost, you are hereby granted access to Databanks above top secret. I want to know what that is."

"Y-yes sir! What will you do with the wreck though?" the Major asked before he could help himself.

"Don't worry yourself major," Hoffman stated just before he left, "I have a perfect set of boys whose vacation time just ran out. They'll be up for the job."

* * *

Marcus Fenix lay in his bed, resting for the moment. The other member of his squadron had fallen asleep long ago, but he remained awake, staring at the blank ceiling of the roof. It had been only three days since they deployed the Lightmass bomb, and already things seemed different.

The wars had continued on without them and already he missed the danger of the outside world around him, the rush of battle that still raged off of the mass of Jacinto Plateau. The subtle peace that he and the squad had been introduced to a day and a half ago seemed to only give him more desire to return to the battlefield. He wanted to get out; he wanted to fight.

Sleeping around him in similar bunk beds were Dominic Santiago, Damon Baird, and Augustus Cole; the four of them made the now legendary Delta Squad, under Colonel Victor Hoffman.

Marcus usually wore his bandana during daylight, however during night took it off, letting the short brown hair out. He had a strong goatee. His left face scarred slightly with lines of past conflicts, he was the former heroic soldier turned-convict. Current leader of Delta Squad, Marcus was strong willed, confident, however a dark soldier, his past constantly haunting the back of his brain.

Dominic, or Dom as he was constantly called, was a long time friend of Marcus, even during the Pendulum Wars. Sporting short black hair and a short beard with a returning moustache, he was loyal, strong minded, and openly opinioned. Having no love for the selfish, he is always searching for something he cares deeply for. He had a family, and constantly had hopes of finding them, during or after the war. He at least let it known to others that he generally believed that this war would end.

Baird was the group's pessimist. Baird had dark brown hair, however always had light blond highlights, and grew a small pointed goatee just under his bottom lip. Constantly complaining of being out in the field, he was a reluctant soldier at best. However his talents were beyond useful. While Dom was smart, Baird was a brilliant mechanic, seemingly able to repair or fix anything with his tools. His strength, when seen, lied in his knowledge of technology and how to repair, if not enhance it. However, this was still roped around with his cynical nature.

Cole was the massive, crazy, battle hungry black man of the squad. A former famous Thrashball player, he was friends with Baird, he is the only one who easily relates to the pessimist. Cole is the tallest, strongest, and wildest of the four, always excited for battle and blood, and cherishes the idea of fighting like a prayer. He did have limits, but were mostly limited to what he considered 'bad ideas'. Although he did love to kill and main, his care for soldiers was not in any way hampered by his love to fight. Rather, he considered the idea of 'sharin' the pain', a good chance to pass around the fun. He still remembered the days being the 'Cole Train; Number 83' before the war ever started.

The leader of the squad lied on his back, thinking about the world once more. Many streaks of phrases and ideas that people had to end it all, or even about the ending of human kind seemed to float hauntingly inside his mind. It was moments like this that allowed him to really worry. Without a bullet to dodge, a grub to smash, or an objective to complete, he worried. The war was not going well, even with the recent victory.

Marcus was suddenly blinded as the lights flickered on brightly, and a gruff voice shouted out, "Rise and shine ladies!" The voice immediate followed Baird crying out as he fell out of bed and onto the floor. "Time to rise, boys and girls! We got ourselves a new job to do." Marcus slowly pushed himself to the side of the bed, glaring around in the new bright light. Cole still was in bed, struggling slightly to remove the covers as Dom easily jumped out of the bed.

"Isn't it a little early for a game of bingo, Colonel?" Dom joked as he stretched himself off the bed.

"You can play your fun-filled-shit after the objective is completed, Santiago. War is all the time, so you had better be with the program!"

"Good morning to you to," replied Marcus under his breath.

"You all will report, ready for action, in fifteen minutes! I want no slack!" Hoffman walked off and out of the room, leaving the four to slowly get out and dressed.

"Can you believe this shit? They said we were getting a break," Baird said coldly.

"They gave us two days, didn't they?" Dom started to get the gear on, slapping parts to check its durability. The Armor generally was thick, black and grey in color, man metal plating over plating. It would stop a few bullets, but was still destroyable. Arms and center legs were covered in hard polymer constructed material, flexible and hard, not hampering movement while allowing some protection. Two rows of small lights shined at the color bone area of the armor, allowing light for the wearer.

"Two days, two shits if you ask me." Baird grumbled, also beginning to slide on the armor and check its strength. "I thought vacation was going to be awesome- I swear I must look like a vampire now with all the sunlight I've missed."

"Two days is all you need with the train around," Cole had finally unraveled himself from the mess of bed sheets, and had hurriedly charged over to the others, getting the various things on. "How do I look?" he joked, spinning around, his arms outstretched as he presented himself.

"Wonder what they got us for now?" Dom asked after chuckling, directing to Marcus for an answer.

"Well, whatever it is, if they sent Hoffman to get us directly, and at three in the morning, it must be important." Marcus focused mostly on getting the materials on. Finally, he had his battle equipment suited, and ready for action.

Dom was the second to finish. "And if it's not?"

"Then we are going to be pretty fuckin' tired today."

Delta Squad finally arrived in Hoffman's space fifteen minutes later. All suited and armed, they looked the same they had not two days ago. Just a little tired.

"Well, aren't you bunch just a bouquet of flowers," Colonel Hoffman mocked their lack of energy with pleasure, eyeing each of them as they walked into the HQ. Men and women all around them, several impatiently shoving past Baird, who angrily grunted back at them.

"You don't look bad yourself, Colonel." Marcus replied.

"Well, before Fenix gets queer on us, here's the report," The Colonel started walking out into the hallways towards the heli-pads, having the four follow obediently," Several hours ago, an unidentified object was detected in space, heading for the planet. Minutes after, it released several smaller objects into the atmosphere; which have also landed." The others listened carefully. This was another strange mission. "You four are to locate the majority of the object, hold out, and capture it until we can send more to secure the object for our own."

"Where're we heading then?" Marcus said as they arrived on the heli-pad, a king raven waiting for them, the blades blasting wind and engine roaring.

"Just outside of section Fv-7. Its Locus controlled, so we don't have much of an idea of where it landed, with seeders in every nook and cranny they can squeeze into. Get in there, and find what you can about this object."

"Wait; we're doing this alone?" Baird asked.

"If it wasn't morning son, I would have told you that you were a dumb ass. We have several other groups heading into the territory. This may be a lucky break for us- even after destroying most of their tunnels, Locus seem persistent as ever. So we can't risk anything, so we're making this a larger mission."

"So, get down, find the stuff, and kill Locus. Might as well tell us just to wash and repeat what we did last week." Marcus turned and walked onto the chopper, the others following. Hoffman nodded after them as the doors closed, and the Raven Chopper made its launch. Leaving the heavily fortified area of Jacinto behind, the king raven made began its track across the sea. "So, what do you guys think?" Marcus turned to the others, calling an informal meeting.

"If it's a barbeque of Locus, mm-hmm! Let's get to the cooking!" Cole shouted.

"Sounds like the same mission again. Guess we're good for this kind of thing, right?" Dom faced Marcus, and Baird scoffed, evidently annoyed by something he said.

"Fine. Let's get back down there, and do the job."

The Black Raven slowly made its approach to the ruined city as just as several small objects descended to the earth, leaving a scorched path of smoke behind them. The largest object then fell diagonally through the clouds, which parted for its arrival, and crashed with a trembling of the earth far off in the city. The Dawn had made its landing.

* * *

They're back.

How have all you Men of War readers been? I have been… busy. And will continue to be so, but let it known that the story has returned.

Now when I closed off with Men of War, the original, anyway, I intended to do a massive, pile on, update. Instead I decided to take my time. You guys want a kick-ass story, and I want to deliver it. The first thing I want to explain is that I will be compressing the first ten chapters into five. It will take a week or so for all ten of them to be written, but the intensity and size of each chapter will increase… I hope it will anyway.

Another note, and this is important for Hard-core fans of either series and their corresponding lore. I have decided this not necessarily as much of a cross-over as much as it is a continuation of Halo 3, that just coincidentally happens to take place in on Sera. This being said, I do not plan on making many changes with the Lore, especially not Halo. The most changes that will happen are those in the distant past, and the future, mostly around Gears of War 2 and the future. So yes, it is a cross-over, but it isn't like these two worlds are head-butting one another and will make something new. The events follow a huge history that is unique and will be revealed as it plays out. And I mean huge.

With that said, there is only one more thing to be said. The Random deaths will be returning. (glances around the room for any signs of possible life-threatening objects) As painful, irrelevant, and pointless as they may be, you all seem to enjoy the author of this story, me, being brutally murdered in various ways. You sick little monkeys.

So… let slip the Men of War: Ultimate

(is killed by a random sniper)

Random Sniper: BOOM HEADSHOT! …wait a second… Haven't I been here before? (a Berserker charges out of the wall and rapes him. Literally rapes him)


	2. Arrival

The city was relatively quiet, considering it was a war zone. The many remaining buildings of formal brilliance and glory stood, each a ghostly reminder of the former grace the human civilization once had. Some buildings simply bore cracks within their foundation, others with corners or walls torn down, others simple ripped to shreds.

However, the peaceful surround was soon interrupted.

A group of drones walked out into an open courtyard; each with a Hammerburst in their hands. The grey, leathery skin of the humanoid monsters hid them well in the decay of the city around them; their small, black, beady eyes scouting around. Each stood around six feet tall, strongly built as cookie-cutter soldiers could be. They growled as they searched for anything worth while to kill; anything human or anything related to humans. As they advanced to the center, one of them glanced up, hearing a softened boom.

Their leader pointed up; its terrible, deep voice shouting guttural words, and the others ran aside, charging to broken building. Just as the last one got into cover, an object smashed into the hard concrete ground, sending rubble everywhere. The impact created a large blast of wind that had one 'barrier' of a cracked pillar fall back into its users, two locust grunts. Their bodies were crushed easily, blood squirting away from the collapse.

Finally, the shaking of the ground and flying of rubble stopped enough for the remaining two drones to carefully walk out, advancing into the fallen pod. Getting closer, it was a smooth cylinder. The object had its windowed door shoot out, and the drones jumped back, one actually firing at the escape pod for a moment in shock. After a moment of calming down, they again approached, circling around it to face the now open compartment.

As the faced it, they witnessed many weapons stashed into the cartage; some familiar, others strange and bizarre even to the soulless eyes of the grubs. One got close to the side of the pod, only to recoil in the huge amount of heat the metal side emanated. Nearly burnt, the single grub growled in dislike, and turned to their leader, the largest of the group.

The large one growled. "Gears…" The others, either in agreement or recognition of the name, snarled softly, glancing around.

Another soft boom was heard, and a burning object was seen coming down in the sky. They watched it, their black eyes steadily keeping it insight, yet unsure of what they were watching. As it closed the distance to the ground, they noticed it didn't resemble one of the pods.

"Incoming!" the deep growl of the larger drone spoke, and the object struck a nearby water canal, skipping off the water it like a tossed rock in a lake. Each impact caused a huge splash of water, steam and sound, and it bounced past them. The two got back up, and chased down the canal, unsure of what to find now, but more than willing to shoot it with every bullet their weapons had. And more would be coming to assist them.

* * *

"Delta Squad, this is Alpha. Come in, over."

"This is Delta." Marcus spoke to his intercom. The voice slightly annoyed him. This was clearly someone who was lively, polite, and positive- the kind of attitude he knew that didn't suit the brutal lines of battle.

"This is Sergeant Mark Agron reporting from Alpha. We received a command from Colonel Hoffman for your squad," the individual called back, reciting his orders robotically.

"Put it through."

"Right. Uh, ok. It says here that 'Locust movement has increased since impact of descending objects. The objective is still in one piece, and… oh, he orders Marcus Fenix to perform above and beyond or he will be "sending him and his sorry ass back to Jacinto Prison"… _the Marcus Fenix_? Are you the guys who detonated the lightmassbomb?" he asked off topic with unmasked curiosity and excitement.

Marcus glanced back to Dom, who just gave him a sarcastic grin. He was still well known for his efforts in previous wars, let alone his most recent celebrity upbringing with the Lightmass bomb. Marcus growled, and spoke quickly, trying to avoid any more hero worship, "Yup. Delta squad out."

"R-roger-"

Marcus closed the com system, glad to be away from the innocent voice that the man had. "Great. A fresh squadron leader for our backup; Wonderful. Because this is such a large, important mission, just like Hoffman said," He spoke as he watched the opposite Black Raven fly next to theirs. From the open choppers he could spot three standing figures and another sitting.

"Hey, it could be worse." Dom said, walking up to him. Marcus stared at him for a second, and nodded his head.

"Yeah… we could have-"

"Nemacyst!" Baird shouted as he raised his rifle and shot down two suicide balls that had launched themselves at the Raven. The others grabbed onto anything they could as the helicopter lurched suddenly.

"GOD-DAMN IT!" Marcus cursed, and aided in shooting any more sideways-incoming attacks.

"Sorry boys, wer' landing right now; too many of those bursting bastards in the air!" the intercom shouted as the pilot shouted, trying to land as quickly as possible. The Raven they rode in lurched its course and tilted, having the other go ahead, avoiding several other Nemacyst in the air and shooting down some more with forward guns. The ground finally was close enough to leap without a painful landing as dust was picked up.

"Great. Let's go!" Fenix jumped from the landed chopper, watching the other still head on.

"The LZ isn't too far up ahead! All I can wish y'all is good luck! And god speed!" the pilot cried as they distanced themselves away from the soon to be airborne craft. As the Raven took off, Delta Squad faced each other.

"Looks like we got ourselves a bunch to catch up to," Marcus growled. "Good start of the day, don't you think?"

* * *

"Aw, shit!" said the Sergeant as he glanced back. "They're down!"

"Let it go Mark; they'll be fine!"

"Land this thing now! We can't get too far ahead of them!" Mark Agron, head of Alpha squad shouted to the pilot of Black Raven. The other members of Alpha squad stood up, their weapons ready. "Land there!" he directed to a canal that had been smashed up by a bomb or missile, or something that had recently smashed nearby.

"Fine, just get out now," the irritated King Raven pilot answered as he lowered down.

Mark jumped quickly from the chopper, followed by Taylor Levvy. A friend of the sergeant since his enrollment in the Gears, Taylor and Mark had gotten along since they met. His dark black skin and dark hair clashed with his bright blue eyes, he claims were inherited by his mother.

Next out was Carey Starfield, the Squads Sniper. He wasn't the most talkative, let alone one to even speak; his words were used carefully and usually about fighting, or war. With short black hair, he was a close to a stoic personality anyone could get to. As soon as he landed, he raised his Longshot Sniper, scanning the area his small, beady, black eyes.

Last to jump was Howard Fortcheril; the veteran of Alpha Squad, and local big guy. Nearing seven feet tall with huge shoulders and muscles, he was the largest of the group easily. Currently, he had his Lancer in his arms, and the Hammer of Dawn on his back; but he would always prefer a Boomshot and Torque Bow. He wasn't brilliant or quick, but he was kind-minded and a loyal man. He had a shortened brown beard, along with moustache and goatee.

Marks image was current to the human trend; he had short spiky hair, which he only to ruffle a little every morning to get the look, as he loved the brag that he didn't need hair glue to make himself appear messy. He carefully walked away from the chopper, waving for its take off.

The pilot waved back, and the blades sent more wind at them as it took off. "See you all later! Try not to get killed!"

"Alright. We need a plan to-" Mark began, only to be interrupted as a Nemacyst smashed into the King Raven behind him, blowing apart its engine. "Shit!" The others turned and watched as their former ride fell and blew up behind a collection of shattered buildings.

"Locust know we're here then," came the experienced, deeper voice of Howard. "What's the call sir?" Mark had never gotten used to Howard calling him sir. The private was much older than him. Mark being twenty two, and Howard being in his forties.

"We'll investigate for now. I at least want to give Delta time to catch up with us a bit before we move on," Mark thought, not enjoying the current situation.

"How about the smaller objects? Command said they would have fallen nearby," Taylor provided.

"Sounds like a plan. Any objections?" Mark addressed his friends quickly, pausing only for a moment to look at Carey, who was glaring off at the buildings, his eagle eye already working hard. He turned away, his hand to his ear. "Command, this is Alpha Squad. Please come in." Static hit all of their ears.

"Seeders," Carey spoke in his trained, almost hushed voice; always sounding like he was hunting. Even as he said it, he seemed to lower his volume, just to avoid attention.

"Well… They might close enough to take down and get on with the job. You know the drill guys, draw attention and let 'em lead us to the bugs," Mark ordered. The group started marching up the Canal, following the path of what looked like a series of small craters in the marble canal, as if something large had skipped down its path.

* * *

"Chief? Chief?"

The man in green armor opened his eyes. His eyes peered past his visor and a light blue sky gleamed overhead. He tilted his head slightly to the right and crumbling buildings blocked the rest of the sky. Slowly getting up, he got a quick fix of the area. A very long canal stretched down an open area of the city. He assumed the small craters around the length of the canal was his landing path. The structures were built of shining stone, like a dull marble. He to his left was a fallen in section of a building that blocked most of the view of the left section of the path which surrounded the canal. The pile spilled out into the canal, directing water to a faster flow around the rubble.

The last time he woke up from an atmospheric landing, there at least had been friendly faces.

"Chief, are you alright?" he stood up, and walked out of the water, easily stepping over the small wall dividing the water form the blocked path. "I guess you are."

"What's our location?" the enhanced super-human asked.

"One second." She paused. It gave him time to look through several buildings, looking for pods. "That's irritating."

"What?"

"Hold on a second…" there was another pause, and finally she returned in voice, annoyed," I can't get a reading of the area. I'm… being blocked by something. It feels like some sort of jamming device."

Master Chief couldn't immediately spot any of the escape pods he had launched for the sole purpose of not arriving on an alien planet without equipment, so instead he glanced to his right again and saw the remains of a soldier. A small pistol was lying next to him. Quickly, he bent down, and grabbed the pistol. It wasn't hard to understand the way to use it, but it did seem to have its differences from the usual Magnum pistol he was used to. It was lighter in weight and probably caliber, so it worked well enough.

"Where is the interference coming from?" he asked, already well aware of where he was going to be headed.

"North… north east."

"Then we're heading north east." Master chief began to walk, now noticing that not only had the buildings been left in a state of disrepair and destruction, but how overgrown the city was; several patches of weeds and vines clumped over at the end of the canal. As he walked closer to the canal, sure that the other side would allow him to move unhindered North East, he could feel eyes on him. This certainly wasn't as good welcome the first time we woke up from a space jump.

* * *

"What the fuck is that?" Mark beckoned to the other three. They were lucky enough to have spotted the 'thing' long before it spotted them, and found sufficient cover. The thick fallen pillar would hold even enough protection for Howard. Mark was the closest to it, just at the edge of the fallen structural piece, eyeing the creature with peering eyes.

"Fumei," Carey muttered.

"What?" Taylor asked. The sniper had an unusual curiosity with his Asian descent.

"I don't know," he translated in English," never seen anything like it, even in a scope."

"It looks human," Howard started after a moment of watching the careful, and unusually quiet being walk slowly away.

"It's bigger than you dude!" Taylor hissed, shuffling around to look at the veteran. "It's taller than _you_!"

"And the size can't be right," Mark contributed," if all that stuff he's made out of is metal, and he's human, he should have muscles the size of the Cole train."

"What if it isn't a kind of metal we're aware of?" Howard argued.

"Hell, what if it's plastic?" Taylor piped in.

"It's moving off," Carey directed them back to the site of the tall being, striding leisurely, looking around the ground with care. Mark adjusted himself, spotted another fallen clump of building, and dived for it expertly. Landing softly, he gambled a peek at the being, and saw it hadn't noticed him.

"So it brings up the question as to what it is exactly?" Taylor stated, this time through their short-distance communications system.

"I think…" Mark thought for a moment, and was positive of his explanation," it's a super-human cyborg."

"What?"

"This isn't time for another of your fantasies, sir," Howard kindly reminded his superior over the hiss of Carey and Taylors exclamation.

"Then what do you think-" Mark slipped and struck a fractured part of the barrier. He had less than a moment to duck before bullets were racing past him, dead on where his head had been a moment ago. "Engage!" he ordered instinctively. This was harder for the others to follow than he expected, being that once he had ducked, the bullets began to zoom at his squad mates. "Fuck!" he shouted, lifted his rifle above his head and began to blind-fire into the direction of the attacker.

This gave the others enough time to recover from their defensive positions. Carey immediately ducked out and shot. As he shouted something, Howard barreled out and rolled to a vertical pillar, and too began to shoot at the green giant.

"Shit, man, it can run!" Taylor shouted as he darted quickly out, trying to follow the huge man as it darted between protection and avoided gunfire expertly. Only a moment later it suddenly was gone.

"Hold fire!" Mark shouted. Taylor, the last one shooting, eased off the trigger and took several steps back. "God damn… anyone hit it?"

"I don't think so," Taylor stated, his eyes wary.

"I know I didn't touch it," Howard added. Mark turned to Carey, who looked sour.

"You missed? _You_?" Mark asked wildly.

"I don't know if it has eyes out of the back of its head… but I swear it knew I was going to shoot it, before _I_ did," Carey, who was the blank slate of the group, was close on the verge of anger. For the other three this boded badly. Maybe Carey was a sociopathic killer with a gun aimed at the Locust, or maybe he had a need to stay private and dangerously inclusive, but he rarely lost his composure.

This thing could be something no one had heard of before. Mark turned towards their former targets last position. There was no sight of it. It moved faster than anything of its size should.

"Well… eyes and ears open. I don't know if we scared it off or its just biding its time before it comes back to kick our ass… but we have to find Delta still. So lets get out of here," Carey ordered.

"We're not going to follow it?" Howard suggested.

"I don't see how we could. Unless this thing is leaving a breadcrumb trail for us to follow, we lost it. And if it is-"

"Then it wants us to follow it, and there ain't no way in hell I'm following it," Taylor finished. A smug exchange from Mark later, and the three were ready to turn around and call it even with the green-thing. Only Carey remained motionless. Or, more or less, as he had slowly lowered himself back behind the barrier, his rifle ready.

"Carey?" Mark asked steadily, aware that the rifle was aimed just past his face," you cool bro?"

"I'm fine," he stated levelly," but you should find cover… Now."

"Why is that?" Mark asked, still staring at the business end of the gun, while Howard and Taylor took his suggestion true to heart.

"Locust. Grubs-" Just as Mark barreled to cover, Carey fired his shot. The Locust Grub, sure of its sneaky, surprise attack, had stood up from behind a building balcony a floor up, from across the water. He was met with one solid slug between his eyes, plastering his inhuman brains all over the walls and ruins behind him. Carey smiled at the carnage as more grubs roared and appeared," Heh, senbotsu."

"Cover fire!" Mark shouted as he lowered himself, and prepped a frag grenade. Howard and Taylor acted quickly, firing at drones that began to appear from the opposite side of the canal, from both floors of the opposite buildings. His grenade was ready by the time Carey had scored another three headshots. Standing only momentarily as Carey re-loaded, he tossed it quickly across the channel. It slapped against a large boulder of a ruin, and exploded to the side, missing the grubs. He snarled and lifted his rifle, and joined the firefight.

* * *

Delta squad was just lifting themselves down from a rotting building when the echoes of gunfire reached them.

"Who wants to bet-" Baird snidly stated, trying to lower himself slowly, only to have the wood beneath him crack and let him fall on his back"- GAH!"

"You think they landed close by?" Dom asked.

"Sounds like it, don't it?" Cole answered.

"Alpha Squad, do you read?" Marcus tried using his com. "Alpha do you read?" No one responded. "Anya, do you read? Where was the last coordinates of Alpha squad?" A calmer, collected voice responded to Marcus.

"This is command," Anya Stroud replied," Alpha didn't too far ahead of you guys. In fact they were in walking distance when they landed, however their King Raven was shot down before I could receive intel from the pilot. They could still be out there."

"Thanks Anya," Marcus responded in his deep voice," Unless Locust just found target practice-" a grenade blast added to the noise of war," and explosives as a new hobby, they met Alpha. We should hurry."

"I'm right with that," Dom confirmed, as Cole nodded in agreement. Baird groaned as he struggled up.

"Alright, lets get going already! You guys talk too much!"

"Speak for yourself, man."

"Oh Yeah? When do I ever talk too much? Hu?"

"Guys, shut it and let's hurry!" Marcus interrupted the two as he charged ahead, Cole just behind him.

"Bum rush for Locust Bar-B-Q! Mmm-hmm!" the crazed black man roared before rushing with Marcus.

* * *

"Chief, I know it looks bad. But they aren't pursuing, so I think they made a mistake. They aren't our enemies. They're humans!" Cortana stated hurridly as the chief turned into a burnt out part of the building, just a street away from the battles with the armored humans he had run into.

"Yeah."

"So… we shouldn't just leave them! They might be able to pin-point the locations of the source of interference, or better yet get us informed with where we are!"

"I know that," he replied coolly.

"So then why are we moving away from them!" as he ducked into the ruined building he looked around, hoping to find a drop pod full of weapons.

"I need a weapon," he advanced further in, turning on his shoulder mounted flashlights. He heard a sigh from Cortana, however she did not pressure him further to return and rescue the fighting humans, and he was fine with this. They were experienced enough to remain quiet enough for him to really have to take his time walking slowly to keep mental notice of their position. After all, his personal radar was non-operational due to the interference. They could hold themselves for a minute or two.

Beyond the burning, and rather dangerous building, he spotted an open courtyard, where one shining, black cylindrical object protruded from the ground. He finally found a drop pod. He wasn't half way into the building, but he could take his time. His usual pace was faster than most people could jog at. Only then did he hear a snarl from his left. Stepping back from a swipe at his head, he spotted a new foe.

Its face was grey, dull and dim looking. Pointy black eyes peered at shined from his flashlights, and its snarled with a mouth full of slightly pointed teeth. It was bulky and about the size of a large man, but was thicker and stronger looking than a normal soldier. The Chief decided to test his last perception for himself. The monster again swiped, as the chief saw this time using the butt of a large revolving pistol, for him.

He let it bounce easily off his shield, repelling the monster off its feet from its own reversed force. It was strong enough to damage the shields, but not enough to break them. Grunts. He instantly decided not to let it get back up, as he bent quickly down and slammed his massive fist directly on the center of its spine, cracking it in half. The creature howled as its legs gave away, and it began to flail with its arms.

"Chief, it could draw attention if you-"

"I'll be borrowing this," he stated to the thing as he pried the revolved from its hands and checked the chambers and found only one massive bullet left. With the knowledge that the humanoid no longer needed it, he fired into the back of its head with gory results. He hadn't expected the gun to have such a kick.

Only after he fired his gun did three more, all between him and the drop pod appear with larger weapons. They all carried a small, compact looking assault rifle of sorts. One pointed at the Chief.

"Kill the gear!" It was shut up only a moment later as the pistol, once in the chiefs hand, had been thrown into its face, breaking the creatures already flattened, snake like nose. The other two, glancing at the injured comrade, turned back and fired at the now charging bull of a man. The chief had seconds to use as his shield could protect him from simple gunfire and some larger-caliber rounds, but it had limits.

He landed his shoulders into the chest of the first and slammed it against a thin wall, crashing through it. It snarled and struggled, but as the Spartan kneeled upward and struck down onto its face, it fell silent, having facial features no longer recognizable through blood. Rolling behind another, thicker wall, he delayed more gunfire reaching him. The other, now by the one he had struck with the thrown pistol, was growling and trying to determine how to attack his newest enemy.

"A good kick aught to do it," Cortana commentated. Turning from the wall and backing up half a second, Spartan One-One-Seven lifted himself back and struck at the wall heavily with the heel of his foot. The bricks exploded and most of the structure he kicked actually flew with the impact, and smashed into the still unsure monster on the other side. Stepping out of the dust, he met the final one, now charging at him. It bellowed as the chief lazily stepped aside, and back-hand chopped him across the neck, producing a loud snap.

All three laid silent.

"Nice warm up?" Cortana asked.

"I needed to remember what fighting felt like. Even if it was just some light stuff," he mentioned as he continued forward and finally arrived at the pods, entering the light. Someone, probably the humanoids, had moved throughout the weapons, curious of their nature. Several laid about, thrown hap-hazard and careless. He picked up as many grenades from within as he could, and mentally reminded himself that he had been right about them not exploding inside the confines during atmospheric entry.

Finally he came across two that he needed at the moment- The BR55HB Battle Rifle and MA5B Assault Rifle. Both were standard from home, and in close to medium range combat, they will do the job just fine. Checking their magazines once more before cocking them, he placed the Assault Rifle quickly around his shoulder. His armor magnetically grabbed it and locked it into place, as he stood up, and turned.

"Time for work."

* * *

Carey was the only one who hadn't need to move from his defensive position. Any time a grub got close enough or in sight to take a shot at him, he either blew its head off or ducked, waiting for it to reload or halt its progress, and then return deadly fire. The others were not so blessed with the accuracy and timing that Carey had. Howard had taken up place just a few feet ahead of Carey, by a similar block of rock that allowed him to lay a decent suppression fire. It was Mark and Taylor who had moved into the offensive. Leaving the previous with only "Keep 'em busy" as instructions, they found a series of stairs in a nearby building to get a better jump on the Locust.

Their combat boots muffled by the thick layers of dust, they crept off the stone staircase, and quickly glanced around. A balcony outside lead to the platforms the Locust were using as a means to keep them at bay. They hadn't been inside this building yet, as the surfaces still had their coat of dust. But just outside a war raged.

"You when I roll out," Mark stated as he switched his lancer assault rifle for a Gnasher Shotgun," give me some cover, okay?"

"Don't need to ask, man," Taylor nodded took a deep breath. Mark counted to three in his head and then charged out. On the platform, he nearly ran head-long into a Grub, one who had probably just thought of using the buildings nearby to get closer. The said locust was blasted in half, his innards ripped out of his body by the point blank power of the shotgun. One the balcony there were overturned tables and chairs clustered together, enough for one to quickly take cover behind. Mark rolled and slid next to the collection neatly, as Taylor behind him took a step out began his cover fire.

The Locust had noticed, and took defense, now watching two directions. The only problem for the humans was there were now reinforcements. At least five more charged out of the building, heading for Mark and Taylor. One was almost immediately shot down by Carey. Another then began to shoot at the snipers position. Another began to shoot at Howard, who retaliated with his blind-fire. The other two advanced onto Mark.

"Shit! Reloading!" Taylor shouted. Mark suddenly felt his exposure. The two incoming were feet from him. He had to act. He leapt up and over, smashing one in the face with the toe of his boot, sprawling it backwards. The other was much more prepared, grabbing him by the neck and easily throwing him into the chairs and tables, which exploded about. On the landing he fired his shotgun and tore the face off the grub who had thrown him, killing it.

The first Locust soldier had returned however. Kicking the gun out of his hands, he planted a stomp right on the center of his chest, smashing what air he had in his lungs out. Mark gasped and grasped with the foot with one hand, and the other tried to pull out his snub pistol. The pressure against his body was building as he felt his ribs bend slowly.

A shadow passed over Marks eyes, and the weight lifted from him. He gasped again and felt air return to his lungs. "Damn Taylor, you took-" his eyes followed the shadow and found a figure much, much to large to belong to Taylor,"-very tall."

"Stay put," Came a voice from the figure in armor.

Master Chief had that second as the Grubs all got a single glance at the Chief of confusion before reacting to his presence. He sprinted for a moment and leapt, leaping high into the air and landed atop the shoulders of on of the grubs, promptly squashing it with his massive weight. He was now behind their barricades. Two were lucky enough, or quick enough, to turn and face him, just as he shot one down. The further got close enough for close quarters combat. Letting his Assault Rifle go with his left hand, he whipped the side of its face with the end of the gun.

As it recoiled, he reached back and brought out his Battle Rifle. A shot to the back of its knees, then its middle-back, and finally its neck had the Locust fall and die. The remaining two had differencing plans: one took cover from the Gears fire, while the other took its opportunity to tackle the chief, or at least try to. It bounced instead to the side, shocked by his personal shield, and ran headlong into a revving Chainsaw.

"Die you mother fucking shit!" Taylor shouted as he had help his friend up, only to be spraying the surrounds with Grub Brains as he sawed downwards on its skull. The chief turned as the final Grub on level with him took aim, and fell to the ground as the Chief shot it in the face with the three-round burst of the Battle Rifle in his left hand. Their blood covered the walls now, but he heard one below about to escape. Placing his Assault rifle away, he gripped his Battle Rifle and he spotted the grub running down the canal line. He gave it a second or two before easily ripping bullets through its skull.

Taylor had helped his commanding officer and friend up, as they both watched the huge being beat back the rest of the grubs without so much as a scratch. The final shots were heard from below as Howard was able to dispatch the last remaining Drone easily. They had made it through yet another fire-fight with Locust. Mark and Taylor exchanged glances as the green armored giant slowly turned. His face was a yellow visor that stretched from hypothetical ear to hypothetical ear. They simultaneously agreed to flee back down the stairs.

"You certainly leave an impression," Cortana spoke to the chief, as he watched them go without a word. Down below, Howard and Carey had noticed as well the appearance of the green armored man. Mark and Taylor nearly ran into the two below. The Chief, watching them, decided to follow suit. He easily hopped down, feet from his former attackers. The four stared, uncertain how to react.

"I believe an introduction, and thanks, is in order," Cortana spoke, using the Chiefs speaker system. Howard blinked dumbly, Carey looked confused, and Mark and Taylor both had their mouths fall open.

"You're a woman!" Taylor gasped, looking up and down at the figure.

"No," The chief stated, using his voice to communicate," that is Cortana."

"Cortana?" Mark asked, unsure of what, or who, he was referring to," Okay… who're you then?"

"I am Master Chief, Spartan John One-One-Seven, of the UNSC."

"And I am Cortana," the womans voice returned," the AI he was tasked with."

A moment of silence met these words, where Taylor and Carey exchanged glances, Howard blinked in confusion, and Mark finally grinned.

"I fucking called that shit! I told you he was a cyborg!" Mark whooped, thrusting his fist in the air triumphantly. "Yeah! In your faces!"

* * *

Yaay! Some real action! WOOHOO! And Mark once again thinks that Aliens are real. Silly man.

Not much to report on. Progress is slow being that so many personal projects are building up next to one another, but Chapter three should be up before the Weekends... end. In the meantime, for those of you who are new, give yourself a look about from what my other stories have to offer! My oldest, favorite, and most detailed project, The Hellsing War Chronicles, is always ready for a good read, and offers a ridiculous amount of material to sink ones literary teeth into. Its anime related, but don't let that put you off- it is just as badass as this is, if not more.

Swords, guns, nearly immortal individuals, its fun stuff to read, and Book one of the story is almost done! So I recommend again, give HSWC a look over if you want more. And to those HSWC readers, i have a poll up that is important to the Super-Omake i have planned. Give it also a look through.

See you guys later! (sees a panda baby climb up on the desk) Baaaawwww... its soo- (the babies eyes glow red and it begins to glare at EZB) CUTESATANICPANDABABY! (red lasers shoot from the pandas eyes and EZB convulses until his head turns into a lobster) Huh... this isn't that bad- (the panda baby attacks and begins to eat the lobster) AIII!


	3. Deja Vu

Marcus slid to a stop. Cole just passed him, stopping just in time to turn.

"You guys hear that?" Marcus stated. Dom and Baird, both just behind their Sergeant, looked around. The gunshots had stopped "Fights over."

"You think they're dead, or-" Dom asked, walking up beside Marcus.

"Alpha, come in, do you copy?" Marcus growled firmly. Again there was nothing. "Command, we've lost contact with Alpha, can you confirm if they are K.I.A.?" Marcus tried Anya, hoping they had sights on their partners out in the battlefield. Yet she never responded. "Anya, do you read? ANYA! SHIT!"

"Seeders," Dom stated, glancing about again," Always seeders."

"So, we going to rip some Seeders apart, or are we going to try a blind search? 'Cus either way it's going to suck," Baird stated.

"We're going to find those Seeders. If Alpha is dead, we'll collect to Cog tags later. If they're alive, they'll probably have noticed the lack of communication, and probably have started looking for seeders as well. We get lucky enough to run into one another."

"Lucky… since when have we been lucky," Baird grumbled to himself as he strode past Dom and Baird.

"What about the objective?" Cole asked.

"It'll have to wait… we can't do shit without intel," Marcus replied. It was true that without commands information, their performance could be haltered. But they had gone without contact previously for prolonged durations. The seeders just became their next target. "Too bad for the seeders," Marcus chuckled grimly.

"Hell yeah!" Cole nodded excitedly. It was back to slaying Locust.

"Lets get moving. How does the road over here look?" Marcus asked to Dom, who was staring up and down the mentioned road.

"We'll see, wont we?"

"Yeah… I guess we will."

* * *

"Well whoever was fighting stopped."

Up, above an exposed street that lead to a old museum, four stranded rested, all appearing to be in their late teens. One lay on his back against a destroyed wall of a former two story building. The building in question was the remains of a small church. While the first floor of the building had been spared from a bomb blast, the entire roof and large sections of the walls had been cleaved away, turning it into a potential watch tower.

The speaker laid against the wall, dressed in ragged civilian clothing. He sported dirty blond hair he tied back into a pony tail. In his arms was a lancer assault rifle, attached however was not a chainsaw, but a large bayonet. Two of his comrades stood against pillars, once supports for the rooftop, also armed with the assault rifle. Another, wearing a red cap that concealed his short black hair, laid on his back, watching the patchy sky.

"I'm bored," the blond stated after a moment where his words met no response.

"You're always bored," One from the pillars spoke.

"Well we aren't doing anything. I expected this to be a lot more fun than just sitting around all day," The blond retorted.

"Sorry, who's bright idea was this?" the second from the rotting, wooden pillar hissed," Sorry if you don't get along with your big man, but this was your idea. We agreed to come along after you asked us. You said it would be fun!"

"Give him credit," the one lying down added," the first day it was. Avoiding being caught was fun… sort of."

"Fun in the sense that we could have been shot at, or killed," one of the two from the pillar stated. This had the blond get up from his slack position and lean against the wall, putting his elbows up against the wall and to stare down onto the street. They were right, sadly enough. His Romantic ideas of what life outside the city was like seemed to have been wrong. Only then did four figures walk out into the open, armed. He ducked down.

"Shhhit!" the blond hissed, his eyes wide.

"Cut yourself?" the one lying down asked dully.

"Frank, shut up," The blond hissed, just above a whisper.

"What is going on?" one asked. "Eric?"

"I said SHUT UP!" The blond with Eric as a name hissed, nearly spitting as he motioned for them to get down. A moment of watching the man crouch like that, they too lowered themselves hurriedly, and Frank, the one lying down, got on his knees. "There's someone out there," he whispered, and nodded for them to get a look with him. Slowly, they all moved to the ledge of the building, and stared down. "Oh shit, not Locust."

"Almost as bad… Gears," the disgruntled friend stated.

"What do you think they're doing out here?" Frank asked.

"No idea," Eric whispered. His eyes widened as a light bulb in his head exploded. "Wait a second, what _are_ they doing here?" he re-stated. "We should find out!"

"What?"

"Why?"

"I told you guys life out here was more exciting than it was back at Rexington, and here's a chance to see why," Eric explained, laying out his simple idea as slowly as he could.

"We're going to stalk cogs? Really? That's the best-"

"Wait a second," Frank muttered. "The really big guy, I just caught a glimpse of his face."

"What? So?"

"Dude, that's Augustus Cole!" Frank almost shouted, the excitement getting the better of him. "That's the-"

"Cole Train," all four said simultaneously. They may have been too young to have seen the ridiculously famous Thrashball player in his prime, but replays on television recordings and holographic records allowed them to see one of the greatest defensive linemen in history. Even as it had been years since official Thrashball games have been held, the games still were part of peoples time, watching plays over and over during less dangerous days. The Cole Train was a Hero to the stranded.

"Do you think he'd sign my hat?" Frank asked.

"I'd think he'd eat your face is you asked him to. He's bigger in person that I thought," one of the two others mentioned.

"You'll have to wait for that signature dude," Eric stated, his voice stricter," we're not the only ones watching them," he nodded across the street to buildings on the same level. Locust Grubs were moving quietly inside the buildings, armed and watching the human soldiers," and I don't think they're looking for autographs."

"Nice," Frank smiled and fist bumped with Eric," there's your one-liner of the day." They both turned back, their faces devoid of the smile they shared a moment ago. Eric then slunk to the right. "What's up?"

"I'm going to follow them. They might need help," Eric said, making sure to remain behind cover as he slid down from the church onto a barricaded roof of the other buildings.

"What? Why the hell should we care about some fascist pig soldiers?" one of the three replied.

"I've always wanted to fight alongside the gears of war," Eric said, more to himself than to the others. After a glance, Frank followed, and so did the other two.

"We got fans," Baird grumbled.

"What?" Dom asked, cocking his head back slightly, looking up and around. He spotted several figures above them to the right side rooftops. "He isn't kidding. It looks like some stranded following us."

"Leave them be," Marcus decided. "They shouldn't bother us. Probably hope we get killed or something and then take our gear."

"What makes you think that?" Dom walked backwards, keeping his eyes on the spot he had last seen the four figures while keeping pace with his squad.

"Why else would they be following us?" Marcus reasoned.

"They just want to see the raw, Locust eatin' machine I am, that's all!" Cole laughed," in the flesh ain't quite like it is on a screen!"

"Cole," Dom started after a chuckle," you never get tired of it, do you?"

"Hell no!"

Marcus let a single grimace of a smile go by. Cole was truly a great person to have around. Marcus stopped his movement though. A Museum up ahead seemed to be the only solid way out, as buildings on either side seemed to be blocked by caved in structure. This wasn't what had him stop. He felt the ground shaking.

"LOCUST!" he screamed. Instantly, he and Dom rolled to the left, while Baird and Cole rolled to the left. Once behind the refuge, each half of Delta spotted their followers. Marcus's eyes made contact with one of the Stranded, who's blue eyes widened with shock at his speed. Baird on the other hand spotted stalking Drones up above Marcus and Dom.

"They're behind us!" Baird announced as he opened fire. Cole roared as he too joined the attack. Dom spun around and glanced up, trying to catch a peek of the enemy above them. Marcus however was watching ahead. A large section of the ground was falling away. As he raised his gun to blast the incoming Grubs back into their shit hole, he heard more emergence holes popping up from behind.

"Goddamn it!" he roared, and began to mow down a collection of just emerged Drones with Dom. It was their turn today to be attacked by Locust. Then there was more gunfire. From above Cole and Baird, four more guns joined the fight, holding back the now numerous Locust that had began to pour out of their entrance holes. One of them, presumably their leader, turned to one.

"Gimme a grenade," He was handed one, the blond handed it back fiercely," a frag grenade, you retard!" the grenade owner spat a curse and almost slammed the chain-held grenade into his face. "Gears! Incoming!" the Blond shouted as he tossed the grenade to the locust emergence hole up ahead. It bounced and landed perfectly into the grub hole, where several inhuman voices cried in alarm as they spotted the grenade falling past them. An explosion of dirt and cement, with some bloody chunks of Locust, filled the gaping hole.

"Dom, move it up! Cole, Baird, provide support until we get the door open!" Marcus shouted across the street as he and Dom made for the large, thick, metal doors of the museum.

"Don't leave us hanging!" Baird cried back, shooting down a possible grenadier.

Marcus and Dom rushed past the bodies of several slain Drones and continued to the door. "One, two, three," Dom counted and they both tried to kick the door down, only producing a loud and resonating thud.

"Jack, get this door open now!" Marcus shouted, turning to spot a Grub a floor above. He knocked it down with a quick flash of bullets. With a beep, the Jack of All Trades Robot de-cloaked and hovered to the door. With a bright light of a welder beginning to slice down the two barricaded doors, Dom and Marcus watched for any more incoming attackers. "Cole! Baird! The door is getting sliced open!"

"Right!" Baird cried, getting up and leaving before Cole had.

"I'll be back for you suckas!" Cole shouted, shooting down as many as he could while marching backwards.

"Hey! Wait!" a stranded from above called, as one jumped down, and turned to shoot back at the Locust. It was only then Marcus realized they were kids. Kids with guns following a bunch of Gears.

"Get out of here!" Dom shouted, waving off to the Stranded behind them, motioning them to run away. Instead, they one by one, with a gun or two always shoot back at the Locust, now a massive mob of guns, started running towards the Gears. The first was the blond, who slammed his back against the walls next to the door.

"Good morning!" he greeted them, and fired some more at the Locust. "Frank, come on!" The man in the red cap started running, one hand on his gun and the other on his hat, as he charged after his leader. "Come on you guys!" the other two were taking longer actually fighting the Locust.

"GET OVER HERE!" Marcus shouted as he heard the doors behind him become loose. "GET INSIDE!" He screamed. One of the two took a bullet to the head. "SHIT!" The other, realizing his friends fate, shouted and started for the others, only to fall, another bullet ripping through his knee.

"REG!" the blond shouted, the red-capped one holding him back, dragging him inside as the wounded Stranded crawled in pain towards them, only to be shot down the back by an advancing Drone. "FUCK! NO!" Marcus had seen and heard enough. Grabbing the two by the shoulders, he nearly threw them inside, turned to shoot back the Locust, and ran inside with his squadmates and Jack.

"Cole, close the damn door! Jack, weld it back up; find shit to barricade the door!" Marcus stated as he, Dom, and Baird began to pull heavy display cases to the front entrance. Cole slid out of the way just in time. Jack began welding the instant the display was shoved into the door frame. Marcus watched for a moment as the door was sealed, and then heard disgruntled Locust outside. Only then he recalled he had visitors. He turned to the: one on the floor, panting with eyes wide, the other leaning against a wall, a hand over his face.

"Godamn… I told them to come… It was me-" the blond leader was shaken from his moment of sorrow as Marcus marched over, wrenched him up and slammed him next to his friend, who dropped the hand.

"What the hell- okay, okay," the one with a red cap demanded, only to find two lancers in his face. Baird was quick to add a gun to the equation, and Marcus wouldn't allow two strangers this close without trust," I'm just following his orders," the kid stated, nodding left to the blond next to him.

"Thanks for the support, you jackass," the blond muttered darkly, staring at Marcus.

"Just what are you dumb shits thinking?" Marcus asked after a moment. "You don't just rush up and start shooting with people you don't know."

"I wouldn't started shooting along a Locust, if that's what you're saying-" the Stranded teenage leader answered hurriedly.

"What if I decided right now I thought my ammo count was more important than your life?" Marcus growled, holding the chainsaw of his gun a little closer to the neck of the Stranded," what If I thought that Stranded were piece of shit scum-"

"Which they are," Baird agreed, causing Marcus to glare at him for a moment.

"-that I liked seeing dead rather than fighting? Did you ever think of that?" It was clear this scenario hadn't crossed the Blond kids mind, as his eyes darted around, his mind thinking of options.

"I just thought you guys wanted to kill Locust…" he muttered, fear growing in his eyes. Marcus held the gun up to him only a moment longer, and then lowered it.

"You're right. That's part of our job," Dom stated, satisfied with the ending not being covered in blood," but we have things to do that are bigger than that," Marcus noticed Baird hadn't lowered the gun. The man had an interesting detest in stranded, possibly since the feast he shared with Cole several days ago that resulted in him having some nasty intestinal problems.

"Baird," Marcus ordered.

"Alright, alright," Baird nodded as he lowered the gun," just thought they wanted to get the message loud and clear."

"You guys hate, Stranded, we get it," the one in the cap stated, and he leaned next to his friend," this was a fucking faaantastic idea you had."

"Look, its not that we hate Stranded," Dom stepped up, uneasy with these two being treated like this," but we've had some bad run-ins. My names Dominic," he stated, holding out his hand. The leader eyed it, and then Marcus for a moment before taking it.

"Eric… just Eric."

"And I'm Frank," the friend stated, much warmer than before," glad to meet you Dominic."

"Just call me Dom."

"Hey… are you the Cole Train?" Eric slowly asked the man lurking behind the three, watching with mild interest. With his recognition he let a huge smile creep across his lips.

"The one and only Number Eighty-Three baby!" Cole stated, pushing past Baird to get to his new fans.

"Can you… oh shit, I dropped my pen," Frank muttered," when I get a pen, can you sign my hat?"

"Hell yeah man!" Cole said, giving the kid a bone shaking slap on the shoulder. Aside from nearly being slapped onto the ground, the teenager looked like he could die happy. Eric laughed at his expression.

"I'm Marcus," the Sergeant announced himself," and this is Baird. We got a mission to do," he said, looking at the very much pleased Cole.

"Wait… you can't tell us?" Eric stated," we can, you know, help you guys out?"

"Don't work well with Stranded," Baird quickly stated, walking past Marcus into the center of the entrance hall of the museum.

"What's his problem?" Eric asked quietly to Dom.

"Honestly, I think someone sewed his ass a little too tight," he joked to the others," but no, we can't tell you guys what we're doing. Sorry, it's nothing personal."

"Yeah, we're just professionals," Cole simplified with a dignified shrug. Marcus lifted a hand to his ear, and still heard nothing.

"Damn it… still no word… Seeders must be close by at least."

"Wait a second," Eric stood off the wall, walking closer to the massively muscular and tall Marcus," you're looking for the seeders?" Marcus eyed the kid. They knew where the Locust put the seeders.

"Well… it looks like you can tag along," Marcus nodded as he found himself in the company of two new allies," as long as you don't start any trouble-"

A muffled boom somewhere inside the building shot through the walls, knocking dust off the display cases. The six humans lifted their weapons up, scanning around the marble surfaces and rotting wooden walls. Dom and Marcus looked about, oddly familiar with the setting. A huge, terrible scream was heard, loud and frighteningly unearthly. The four squadmates of Delta exchanged glances. The atmosphere changed from a recently established calm to a hushed panic.

"Oh shit," Baird gasped as another, closer boom was heard, and above them the glass chandelier shook dangerously.

"Berserker," Marcus groaned.

"The female Locust?" Eric asked, hushing his words carefully. His gun zoomed about as he thought it could appear from any wall.

"Put it down," Dom whispered to him from across the hall," bullets don't do shit to this thing… Cole, you still have the H.O.D.?" Cole nodded to him," Marcus, we should get to the other side of this building, and get a clear shot of it."

"I like it-" Marcus shut up as the closest boom yet echoed from hallways not far off.

"Why are you guys whispering," Frank asked, also keeping his voice low.

"Berserkers don't have the best sight, but they make up for it in their smell and hearing," Baird stated in encyclopedia like clarity," They'll track you down without so much as seeing what you look like."

"…oh," Frank said, nearly breathing his words. One more bang, this time more distant had Baird sigh with relief; it was moving off. A metal snap up above had him look up- and he dived out of the way just in time to dodge a falling chandelier. After the glass and metal pieces all stopped clanging and crashing noisily, they all heard progressive bang after bang shaking the walls.

"Shiiiiit," Marcus groaned.

* * *

"Delta squad, this is Alpha, do you read, over?" Mark loudly announced for the third time, growing impatient for the equipment," Damn it!"

"Seeders?" Taylor suggested.

"Must be," Mark agreed," I can't think of anything else…" he and his friend chanced a glance at the Spartan. He had gone around, examining the Drones and their weapons, the Hammerburst compact rifle. Howard and Carey had stuck close to their leader, keeping an eye on the apparent 'Spartan'," unless he's responsible for this."

"Don't blame us," Cortana replied coolly, easily picking up their conversation," we're blocked as well, so if you think this is some conspiracy against you four, save yourself a headache and relax."

"Right," Mark said uneasily," relaxing is kind of hard when you're looking at an alien that just took out an entire attack group of Locust."

"That sort of ability is hard to see with humans," Carey added, his deadly calm voice having returned.

"That's us, by the way," Howard explained," we're human. It's the name of our species."

"I know what humans are! The Chief is human you idiots," Cortana hotly replied, not enjoying being spoken down to like she was a faulty program," and we come from Earth- of course we know what humans are!" Aside from taking a half step back, the group of soldiers had exchanged several glances at the name 'Earth'.

"Cortana," the chief stated, keeping his com off to the others," I get the feeling they aren't aware of Earth."

"I don't see how that's possible," Cortana replied, also keeping the conversation private," the chances of there being two separate, but nearly identical cultures in a galaxy develop independent of one another is slim to none, and then having two biological species develop in separate parts of the galaxy, or even the universe, is astronomically minuscule."

"Wish I could agree," the chief stated, turning from inspecting one Grub that had been torn in half to look at the soldiers, again whispering among themselves," they got here somehow. And if earth isn't the answer, then what?"

"I… I don't know," Cortana admitted," but that'll have to be something we can work on later. Right now you should find the source of interference and stop it. Then we can find a center leadership."

"Talk to the higher ups… sounds good," The Chief liked it. And so he turned, and started walking past the others.

"H-hey, where're you going?" Mark asked after a moment.

"We're going to destroy what is causing the interference," Cortana responded for the Chief, who continued walking, almost forcing the others to follow in his wake," and then report to your leaders. It is crucial we bring ourselves up to speed with your worlds head of Military."

"Hold on, you're going after the Seeders? And you have an idea where it is?" Taylor asked, incredulous.

"It can't be that hard," Carey added, rolling his eyes," we came southward, and we are farther north than before."

"And that's where I'm heading," Master Chief declared," I wont stop you if you want to follow."

"Hold on a second," Mark ran just ahead of the Spartan, huffed by the chiefs words," I don't know what sort of ideals your alien world and culture has, but this is _our_ war, and if anyone is going to be following anyone, it will be _you_, following _me_. Clear?" Mark growled to a currently stopped chief. The Spartan, looking down on the normal sized figure, let his lip twitch in a smile.

"Lead the way then, Local."

* * *

The inside of the inner city Museum rattled. The many statues and models of figures and great historical happenings all stood still in the estimate of time and decay. Dust drifted around casually, wafting and floating at ease. The rattle was joined by a boom. A door was crept open, and one moment later, six men crept inside the room as quickly and quietly as possible. The youngest at the rear, they were able to get nearly half way into the room before taking cover as the door, along with half of the wall, was destroyed.

The Berserker was huge. Standing almost ten feet tall, the huge, violent, and almost blind Locust sniffed the air, waving its proportionately small head around. The skin seemed to shine in the air, naturally thick and metallic. Growling in frustration, or perhaps hoping to flush her prey out, it lumbered about, still looking about, waving its head around. Marcus, next to Cole and Frank, glanced back from behind a case displaying early designs for helicopters. He spotted the beast still by the door, but getting closer to Dom and Baird.

Marcus noticed, with a sense of drawing panic, that Eric had begun to creep away from Baird; shifting away from them and closer to the door. This would have been fine, only the stranded was keeping his eyes only on the Berserker, and broken glass was scattered behind him. Cutting himself could let him gasp or shout…

Marcus waved to Dom and Baird, pointing behind them. Baird, who squinted at him and mouthed "What the hell?" failed to grasp his flails. Dom however turned, and too spotted the possible incoming trouble. In what could have been luck, panic, or a strike of genius, he picked up a piece of rock, and threw it at a glass display case behind the Berserker, in the corner of the room. While the Glass did not shatter, the piece of rubble rebounded and caught the Berserkers attention. It spun quickly, and lunged for the source of noise. Finding the display case, it began to smash it again and again with its fists, wrecking the panel of some famous political speech.

The noise was perfect. All six were able to move for the time being quicker without worry of much noise. They raced through the hallway at the end of the room and into the final chamber.

"Come on, come on," Dom chanted as he approached the door. Placing his hand against the exit, he pushed, and got no where," shit!"

"What? Just get jack to rip it-" Baird started.

"The Berserker would totally find us if we got Jack-" Marcus started. Cole shoved him and Dom back a moment, turned to the door and placed a powerful kick against the center of the two thick doors. While they bended back slightly from the force, all they really produced was an echoing bang.

"Oh shit," Cole hissed, torn between apologizing and shutting up; the Berserker had heard, and was moving now closer to the hallway.

"I don't think we're getting through this without its help," Marcus admitted.

"It's not just going to come over here and hold the door open for us!" Eric hissed, the Berserker now in the hallway, looking oddly cramped as it tracked the source of the sound.

"Oh yes it is," Marcus growled, lifting his gun," when I say now, jump aside. Until then, make noise!" He took aim and fired at the Berserker.

"WHAT ARE YOU-" Frank roared, only to cover his mouth, watching Marcus shoot more and more at the increasingly angering Berserker," you are pissing it off!" he hissed, almost in his face, but unwilling to push the gun out of the Sergeants hands.

"EXACTLY!" Marcus roared. The massive creature finally dig itself out of the hallway, breaking the frame as it exited. It bellowed that terrible cry and charged, footsteps rocking the once polished ground. Each second they watched as it got closer and closer. "Okay… okay," Marcus timed, lowering the gun," NOW!" he roared as he rolled aside not a second too late. The Berserk hardly noticed the change, smashing through the thick metal door and into the outside. As the Gears stood back up, they heard a sudden shriek and cry, followed by a loud rumble.

"Oh shit!" Cole repressed a laugh," the bitch fell down the stairs!"

"Classic," Dom agreed, peering through the now open doorway. The back entrance, or public entrance, had a tall set of stairs that welcomed guests to the humble and majestic museum. Only for the Berserker it served as a sudden drop in the ground level, as she had fallen and smashed half of the already bruised concrete.

"Cole, get the Hammer of Dawn on the bitch now!" Marcus stated quietly," once she's lit up, shoot at her with everything you got," he stated to Eric and Frank, who were eager to leave the building from hell," go!" he ordered firmly. They all darted out, discovering the Berserker on her back, uncertain of how she had ended up looking at the sky. Cole however waited for nothing, pulling out the handheld device, pointed it at her face, and lit the laser. The beeps from the Hammer of Dawn laser pointer were loud enough to be heard by the Berserker, who screamed and thrashed around, aggravated by the sudden noise, or possibly knowing of the doom coming to her.

Four small points of light appeared around the Locust bull. Even from the stairs the humans felt the heat coming from the lasers. As soon as they had appeared, they moved closer and closer, focusing on the Berserker.

"Cook that bitches ass!" Cole roared to the firing of the Hammer of Dawn particle energy weapon. A huge burst of light and heat fell from the sky itself, smashing into the helpless Berserker, who screamed loudest, her skin melting and catching fire.

"Kill it! Shoot!" Baird reminded the Stranded as he, along with Marcus and Dom, began to open fire. Bullet after bullet ripped off melting flesh, tearing into the once invincible Berserker, now made helpless before the Hammer of Dawn and six humans. The light vanished, but the Berserker, glowing orange remained, feebly trying to move her arms. The side of its body had been ripped partially, exposing vulnerable flesh that had been singed and cooked by the intense heat. It was dying.

"We got this cunt all right," Baird nodded as he descended the stairs.

"You sure about that?" Marcus asked. He was sure they had indeed finished the Berserker, but his instincts warned him not to approach anything that lived after being hit by that much direct fire.

"Yeah, we're good!" Dom had approached as well, keeping his gun level as the Berserker fell limp. "Just as gross as I remember them smelling."

"Could have been worse," Marcus stated as he started down the nearly shattered stairs, the stranded just ahead of him.

"Just lucky to have more guns on your side?" Eric asked, smiling proudly to have done his part.

"You could say that," Marcus nodded.

"Yeah, nice job everyone, good job killing the Berserker," Baird started, his sarcasm dripping with each word," why don't we get moving before more Locust show up with two Berserkers? Or a Brumak?"

"Baird, quit your bitching," Marcus growled as he walked past the smoking remains, the wind picking up the ashes.

"What? I'm not bitching! I'm not! I just want to get moving before they-"

"So, what's our next move?" Dom asked to Marcus, moving over to talk over Bairds insistent babble.

"Well," Marcus turned to face the two teenagers, examining the body," if our guides are ready to move…" he stated loudly. Just as Eric turned to him, Marcus held a hand to his nose instinctively," oh shit- Baird, was that you?"

"What?"

"Seeders," Eric smiled as he stood up," you get used to that shit after you live this close to them."

"You're going to tell us where they are, or are you going to brag that you live with stuff that stinks like my ass?" Baird demanded hurriedly.

"Oh come on man," Dom started, sounding sympathetic," I don't think this smells nearly as bad as your ass."

"Yeah, we'll get you guys there, as long as you don't do anything stupid," Frank insisted, directing some aggression towards Baird.

"What's the word then?" Cole asked, satisfied with the two, walking over and patting them on the shoulder.

"North, due north," Eric stated again.

"Then north it is," Marcus nodded for them to lead, reloading his rifle absentmindedly.

* * *

Woot woot! Chapter three is done! The groups are gathering, and Berserkers are getting fried, and Baird is getting handed his rank old ass. (sniffs) just like old times…

Speaking of old times, June was the third year anniversary of Men of War! So a late Happy Anniversary to all those who have stuck around to see this become a great story! I can't believe I've been writing for more than four years… no, men of war wasn't my first story- I deleted my crappy first version of Hellsing War Chronicles and the newest is in its place. YAY! I FEEL OLD! XD

(spots several cups on the desk, next to the computer) Hey… one of these must be the Holy Grail! (looks over several, including one with the words "J.C." on the side, and spots one made of gold) SWEET! (drinks from it, and begins to rapidly rot) Gaw… at least I can be a member of the forsaken from World of Warcraft- (explodes into dust)


	4. Northward

"You saw that right?" Taylor asked again, his eyes fixed on the spot the heavenly beam of destruction had appeared.

"Even if you were blind you could feel it," Howard nodded, walking past him to keep in pace with the Spartan, who had the least reaction from the others.

"What do you think they needed a hod for?" Taylor continued, turning with the larger squad mate, now next to Mark.

"If they got a seeder, I'm sure we would have gotten some sort of fucked up message. Something distorted badly, but we would have heard something at least," Mark said with worry," so maybe they ran into something a little bigger."

"Brumak?" Carey prompted.

"Would have heard one," Howard said," or we would have felt something… Berserker?"

"I hope not," Mark replied, glancing one last time to the direction of the beam of light," we won't know until we get into contact with them. And with the damn caved in apartments here, we can't just run on over while shouting 'Over here!'."

"Keep on going-" Carey asked in his deadly tone, only then to sneeze. As he did, Taylor groaned in disgust and Mark gagged. The Chief, just slightly ahead of the conversing soldiers, turned. He hadn't noticed any stench.

"Did I step in something dead?" The chief asked, checking his feet quickly.

"No, but we're getting close," Howard announced, roughly patting the back of his sergeant. "The stink never lies."

"Seeders," Mark spat on the ground, his eyes scanning the buildings," they're got a super nasty funk that follows them. Probably couldn't notice with your helmet, or some… air filter-thingy… if you even breathe air."

The chief took in the surrounds, ignoring the continuous doubtful comments on his humanity. "Cortana," he again asked, only speaking to the AI," what do you think of the firepower back there?"

"Obviously something fired from orbit. That's not terrible new, after all you remember the WAV M6? Rather than a single burst of high energy though, that seemed to have a large source of power behind it for prolonged firing. That isn't something that we could put on a shoulder mounted weapon back home," Cortana summarized, clearly impressed with the sudden display of firepower. It was a mixed feeling for the Chief to see massive energy weapons again. They had saved his ass almost as many times as their alien counterparts had glassed continents of UNSC planets. His memory shouted back to the times when massive beams of energy rained down and erased countless billions.

Even in his deeper thoughts and recollections, the chief was aware of his surroundings. He spotted something, floating and bloated, drifting just out of sight above the buildings to their right. Several steps to the left gave him a better view. It looked like a flesh balloon with two thing tendrils one either side of the sphere, slowly swimming it along in the sea of air.

"Marines," Cortana too spotted the strange object," what is your info on… that?" she asked, having the four soldiers turn to the chief.

"Marines? It's Cogs- What?" Taylor asked quickly as Mark strode to the Spartan, slowly turning his gaze to accompany that of the larger man. He too spotted the creature.

"Nice. Nemacyst. We know where to look," Mark turned from the drifting creature to Carey," give me a glance through those buildings, I want to know if there is anything over there, or if there are any more of them."

The sniper nodded and silently ran towards the building, Taylor slowly following.

"There's more," Howard announced, spotting three more drifting, one after another, above the buildings. Only a moment later, Taylor was waving them over with fervor. "We found them." The two Cogs darted, keeping themselves low to the ground as they began their approach. Only the chief stayed in his form, tall and imposing as possible. The four cogs now stood, just under the collapsed side of the building, peering into the destroyed interior from the shade of the floor above.

"Seeder spotted, several grubs are keeping watch," Carey reported once the two others arrived," I'm certain there are wretches as well. Ozomashii…"

"You saw wretches?" Taylor asked, trying to get his sights, leaning in closer to the rifle.

"How many all together?" Mark asked, from behind Carey, checking his supplies.

"Grubs, ten to fifteen. Wretches, michisuu… I don't know," Carey stated after a glare from Taylor.

"For once could you drop the whole 'I'm asian, so I talk like one' thing!" Taylor hissed, Carey rolling his eyes. "It's not that I don't like it, I mean Asians are hot, you know? But I want to know what the hell you are saying when people could be shooting at us in a moment!"

"Chill out man," Mark ordered, standing up," looks like we're heading inside. Hey, Master Chief," Mark spun," we could really… Master Chief?" looking all around, the chief had disappeared. "What the hell?"

"What?" the voice came from directly above, on the floor above. As the cogs jostled and looked up, the helmet of the Spartan stared down at them. "You wanted something?"

"How they fuck did you get up there!" Mark demanded.

"I jumped."

"You jumped?"

"I did." The four stared, and the Sergeant scrambled to re-strategize his plans involving the super-soldier, possible alien.

"I need you to… uh… do what you're best at. We'll keep them pinned, then you bust in with your crazy super-power shit, and fuck them up. Then we'll deal with the Seeder-"

"I take that the large fleshy creature that continues to protrude the 'Nemacsyt'," Cortana interrupted," is the intended target?"

"Wha- yes?"

"You boys stay alive and make sure those pesky grubs don't do anything smart. Leave the rest to the chief," the AI ordered," and we'll take care of the Seeder."

"W-wait a second! It takes some heavy firepower to take down a seeder-"

"Trust me," the Chief stated, before standing up and leaving the four to decide their actions.

"Bullshit!" Mark hissed angrily," I told him that this was our shit, but he's got to go and be all heroic and shit! Makes me feel-"

"C'mon man," Taylor stated, his game face on," What's the plan?"

"Usual. Howard, give them a nice explosion to rattle them up. Carey, watch out for any snipers. You and me," Mark directed to Taylor," we'll be the 'shoot-at-anything-that-looks-at-us-the-wrong-way' part. Let's move!" No sooner had he stated the order then they started creeping forward, keeping as low and constantly in check visually as possible. For Carey, who seemed born for the task of being shady and deadly, this was second nature. For Howard, not so much.

Several meters inside the air finally was thick enough to announce the location of the Seeder. Centered in a forcedly made courtyard of a crater, it protruded its abdomen out, laying Nemacyst into the air like deadly floating eggs. The sniper had been right. The area, while open and ready for an ambush, was protected by the light guard of Locust grunts. Cookie cutter soldiers at their finest, these were tough built, thick headed, and slower than some of their more agile, and even stronger, superiors.

Mark slid against what was once a large dresser, Taylor next to him. Only several feet, hidden by the skeleton of a bed, Carey stared intently at his prey. Howard turned, a grenade ready.

"Toss it," Mark whispered, and Howard grunted, tossing the explosive directly at a trio of conversing grubs. One heard his noise, and howled, telling the others of the ambush, but for the three next to a primed grenade, it was too late. The tiny beep heralded their deaths as they were torn to shreds by the blast.

"Eat it!" Taylor shouted, putting two other misfortunate grubs to their death with a hail of gunfire.

The Chief walked above, feeling the vibrations of the gunfire and weapons from below easily through his armor. The walls on the floor above had, ironically, survived the explosion that made the yard, and blocked the chief off from the immediate fight.

"To the left is an opening to the enemy," Cortana announced to him as he considered just kicking the wall down. Heeding her words he turned, his Battle rifle at the ready. Meeting the end of the surviving wall, he now had something to do finally: three Locust soldiers were creeping closer to the cogs, trying to get a jump on them from above. Without hesitation he marched forward and kicked one off the high ledge. As it screamed he threw another off, leaving the center, and larger, of the three for him. This one was just a little fast, ducking under the easy punch that the chief had intended to have knock out the monsters teeth, or jaw.

He too turned, following the Locust as it withdrew a smaller weapon then the chainsaw attached machine guns he had seen so far. One shot, heavier than the others, reflected off the shields before the chief literally punched the barrel, breaking the gun in several places. The Locust fell, but again showed unusual ability compared to its comrades, pulling out a large brick and slamming it against the chief. To his surprise, it brought the powerful shields down. Only for the Locust this was bad news, as the Spartan now had a godly grip on its arm and neck, and was lifted several inches into the air.

"Chief, to your right!" Cortana announced, allowing the chief to drop the Grenadier and duck, avoiding the lunging creature. As it missed the Spartan, its claws collided with the Locust soldier, ripping half of its face easily off. Not wasting time to wander who or what, Master Chief pulled out his battle rifle again and put burst of bullets into the smaller head of whatever just leapt at him. "It… it almost looks like a Covenant grunt!"

"Too bad for him," The chief replied, giving the corpse a single glance. He never needed to glance at the dead one, as another leapt over it and lunged towards him. In that single moment, the chief did get the visual he needed. What Cortana had said was fairly true. It was small, roughly three feet tall, with a large back and strangle proportioned limbs. What the Unggoy grunts however lacked in tenacity and ferociousness, this creature made up.

It was built to look scary and fearsome. Even as the chief ducked back and let it soar past him, he caught a glimpse of the face and its scaly skin. With grey skin stretched over its small skull and rows of terrible elongated teeth, this would put the grunts to shame. As it landed and ran onward, the chief spun, catching yet another one about to launch itself to him. He only needed several bullets to put it to a stop. But more were coming.

Visibly he spotted at least five or six of these demon like imposters running leaping about, clawing over piles of rubble to get closer to the chief. He was certain though that these were just the beginning. Lifting his battle rifle away, he now pulled out the trusty Assault rifle, and began his spray of death. One after another of the hobbling creatures collapsed and slid to a stop, falling from their edges, their piles, halfway through leaps, they fell and died. And then two claws wrapped around the Chiefs visor.

While the wretch was too light to have pulled him back and onto his back, he couldn't get a descent shot with the constantly fumbling and scrambling nails across his face. Leaving one hand to blind fire at the still oncoming horde of wretches, he reached back and tossed the successful aggressor, pulled it around, and punted it into two others before shooting it down too. It's last shriek died just as a section of the roof near the chief gave way and four more wretches entered the fray.

"Chief, you have more coming from behind!" Without hesitation he spun, withdrawing his other rifle, and shot down several more oncoming wretches. In the spin however another had latched onto his Assault rifle and thrown it aside. "Time to leave this party in style?" she asked as his now empty hand pulled out a frag grenade. The dozens of wretches that leapt at him like waves had no idea what hit them.

He leapt up and back, flipping backwards out of the oncoming foes, leaving behind a small, hand sized farewell gift. As the wretches slammed into one another, unaware of their dog piling onto an armed grenade. As he soared into the air, upside down, chief witnessed the shrapnel ripping apart the large pile of wretches. But he knew he only had seconds now to act again. He was now in the center of the courtyard.

"Holy shit!" Mark and Taylor shouted simultaneously as the chief landed on the Seeder. The insect buckled, and a muffled roar followed, having several of the grubs to turn, finding the source of the noise. Only then did the chief jump up again, and land onto the back of an unaware Locust grunt. As the grunt was slammed into the concrete ground, instantly killed by the massive impact, the chief stood up, all eyes, and guns, were on him.

"Master Chief! You're in the open!" Howard shouted, keeping several grubs under his cover fire.

"Piece of cake," the chief muttered. Once again he made himself airborne, soaring for the least prepared ground of Locust soldiers. He shot one inhuman soldier before his boots touched the ground. Another tried to swing at him with one of the smaller burst fire machine guns, only to have the bullets harmlessly fall from the shield. That grunt too fell from a single burst from the Battle rifle. The third had something different in mind.

It was the first the chief had seen that was in possession with one of the Cogs weapons- the chainsaw mounted rifle. The final of the three brought the chainsaw quickly at the Spartan. With no hesitation, the chief punched the chainsaw. While the weapon did manage to temporarily break the shielding of the soldier, the metal fist was far too powerful to be stopped by a stalled mechanical chain weapon. The knuckles ripped through the entire gun and struck the chest of the Grub, easily cracking its rib cage into fragments. Not only did he smash the gun, but he had the grunt fly away and into two grunts behind it.

"Getting into cover might be productive!" Cortana announced as a grenade from the opposite side of the crater slid nearby to a stop. Taking her advice, he quickly ducked lower and darted behind a pillar. Once the grenade blasted dirt into the air, the chief ducked out and returned fire, shooting at the location he was sure the grenade had come from. Several grunts and a low cry of pain told him he had not missed his target.

"This thing is unbelievable," Mark said as he shot down a cocky grub," he's running around, shooting shit up like it's his favorite past time!"

"Sir, lets think about that later!" Howard suggested as he covered for the reloading sergeant.

"You got the hammer ready?" Mark asked while undercover. The larger man, ducking from a hail of bullets nodded at him. "Ok, get it- BEHIND YOU!" just in time to save one of his soldiers from being severely lacerated, Mark shot at several attacking Wretches. Two fell, but the last leapt up in time to latch onto the Hammer of Dawn, and rip it in half.

"Fucking little animal!" Howard growled, grabbing its head, and smashing it into the ground with all his weight, breaking its skull in too many places to count.

"Shit… shit!" Taylor shouted as he ducked down, his gun making light clicks. "Out of ammo!"

"Chief, if you were going to take care of it, now is the time!" Mark shouted, chancing his head above the protection of his barrier only for a moment or two.

The Spartan reacted instantly. While the orders themselves were more of a plea for help, the chief had to act. Charging out, he tossed his last frag grenade to a cluster of hidden grubs, who piped their heads up just in time to see the small object land next to them. Ignoring the gorey demise of the inhuman soldiers, the Chief launched himself onto the slimy creature, and began to pull himself nearer to its abdomen, or at least the end that spat out the 'suicide sacks'. Climbing as quickly as he could, and ignoring the bullets that were bouncing off his shield, or just barley missing him, he reached behind him and took his last explosives- the Plasma grenades. Activating them just as the creature opened its maw, he tossed them inside, and threw himself off.

"I'd duck if I were you!" Cortana warned the soldiers as the chief rolled and waited. Carey, the last one to see the Seeder, ducked.

The creature never got a chance to scream or cry. It gave a terrible wet explosion, similar to a infected zit the size of a large tractor. Green chunks of flesh and red and black goop splattered everywhere, completely covering the chief in dead Seeder. What was left of the seeder was a bleeding stump, sliding slowly back into its hole as it continued to pump more of the incredibly foul gel or guts into the now empty courtyard. The remaining Locust had vanished, apparently fled, as Carey stood, a sick look on his face.

"That… is… is disgusting," he managed before vomiting.

The chief slowly pushed himself up, unaware of just how covered his armor had become in the bile. As he rose, the flesh slid off, giving off green vapors from some of the cooked internals.

"I thought a completely roasted Seeder was bad… I never want to see one blow up again," Mark said, green in the face," I doubt even a Locust would want to eat that… and I am sure they're shit eaters."

Howard and Taylor too stood, only Howard though of the four seemed to keep his composure. Taylor looked disturbed, horrified as he kept finding pieces of meat on him, yet too disgusted to touch with his own hands, or even gloves. Howard shrugged off the pieces of gross-ness, and nodded to the now standing chief.

"That was impressive, Spartan," Howard nodded, and patted the chiefs shoulder, only to realize his mistake, as the palm of his hand was now covered in black ooze.

"Thanks," the chief stated, and patted the mans shoulder, covering it with the same flesh or blood, and walked past the disgruntled soldier to their leader. "That takes care of the seeder, right?"

"W-what?" Mark coughed, stepping away from the Spartan," Oh shit, keep your distance!"

"What?"

"My shit smells better than you do," Taylor explained poetically.

"…So," The chief stepped back several steps," the seeder is taken care of. I can get into contact with your leaders?"

"I think I can get you to command," Mark answered after spitting. He turned his ear to his hand," Delta squad, do you copy?" he waited for a reply, and met buzzing static. "Come on… Delta squad are you there? We have taken care of a Seeder in the area, please respon-" Gunshots began to echo from a distant battlefield. Mark and the others turned about, searching for the source. But the chief spun around, sure of the battle from the east. "It could be them… Alpha squad do you need asis-"

The same massive beam of light that struck from the heavens earlier hit the ground with fury. Shrieks and howls accompanied its landing onto the earth, along with the usual vibrations.

"I think that may be them," Cortana stated.

"Alpha… squad… I wou… like to thank you for pushing ou… ambush ahead of sche…" came an aggravated voice, full of sarcasm and aggression.

* * *

"Alpha squad, this is Marcus Fenix," Marcus shouted after Baird had yelled at the side of his head, stopping just for a moment from shooting to speaking," shut up for a bit, we'll get back to you!"

"R…ger," replied the static.

They had indeed been sneaking up to a seeder, rather well it seemed. Unlucky for them, Eric the stranded had just mentioned how things always seem to go wrong when they shouldn't. Only after Baird warned him not to jinx them, the static voices of Delta started roaring though, and Marcus had cried in sudden pain. His cries were more than loud enough to alert the Locust of an incoming attack. Not that it had really helped them however. Against the legendary Delta Squad under Hoffmans' leadership, the any average sized force would be nothing but fodder. They had, after all, stormed an entire Locust infested train and detonated the Lightmass bombs.

Not that it had really done much to stop the war.

Marcus easily shot two more grubs down gnashing his teeth as several bullets just managed to pass him by inches.

"Going live, baby!" Cole shouted, readying the Hammer of Dawn.

"Light it up!" Dom cried as he covered for the timed delay as the H.O.D. satellite aligned with the laser, producing several smaller beams of energy, which all began to move to one another right where the device aimed- on the face of the seeder. A roar of power trumpeted the second attack on the large creature, which hissed and roared as it attempted to scuttle back inside it's hole. As its insect like legs tried pulling in, the sheer power of the laser pushed it further in, all the while cooking it alive. The last of its legs slipped, ripping concrete with it as it fell back inside into its hole, bursting into flames. As the embers began to scatter and soar from the opening of earth, the remaining Locust scattered, turning for the safety of the obscure buildings, ripped apart around the six.

"Hell yeah! Score one for the Gears!" Eric shouted, leaping out first, moving for the disgusting smelling hole. Marcus and he other gears were more hesitant to let themselves away from cover. They had, after all, just been shooting away at their enemy, and recklessness in this environment got you killed. "Damn… you scorched it good!" Eric shouted, leaning over the edge to spy the corpse.

"This kid keeps getting on my nerves," growled Baird as he stepped out from his protection, just ahead of a moderately pleased Cole," acting like he's one of us."

"Just shut it," Marcus warned him with a growl of his own," it's better than 'you fascist pig soldiers'."

"Baird, you hate everyone when you first meet them," Dom joked. Baird missed the humor.

"What? That's not true. I-I like plenty of people from first glance… like this gun," he lifted his lancer," we get along fine."

"How's it look from there?" Dom called to the staring stranded kids," whoa! I hope it looks better than it smells… damn."

That stuff bothers you?" Frank asked. "This sucks, but this isn't anything too bad."

"Maybe when you guys can take a shower more than once a month," Baird commented.

"Hey!"

"Cool it Baird," Marcus warned him again.

"What? Am I not allowed be cold to anyone these days?" Baird demanded. "Hey Marcus," his voice shed its whining attitude as he spun to the leader," didn't we get in contact with Alpha?"

"Shit, you're right," Dom too turned to Marcus, who had grunted in annoyance, and lifted his finger.

"This is Sergeant Fenix, calling Alpha squad. Alpha, do you copy?" Marcus heard, to his disappointment, yet more static.

"Y…yes! We he… you… not ver… early though," the same voice of Sergeant Agron, desperate and full of energy. Someone inexperienced.

"Can you give us your location? We put down in hostile territory; we're not even close to our checkpoint!" Marcus tried slowly and loudly, nearly shouting at seemingly nothing.

"We landed… ter seeing you… behind us. We saw your Hammer… so we're not… far. We w… planning on making it towards Stonewall canals."

"Stonewall?" Marcus repeated out loud.

"Stonewall canals?" Dom replied, Baird's mouthed fell open.

"Wait, what's going on?" Hank and Eric left the still roasting body for the others. Marcus held his response for a moment.

Stonewall canals was, of all places, one Gears of small size, such like the group they have here, avoided. Since several years ago, it had been a focal point of surface Locust management and management. There hadn't been any real powerful forces, no Brumaks or Berserkers, but it was certainly packed to the brim with infantry. Grubs, Wretches, and even a collection of Boomers could be expected in those god-forsaken canals. It was a deathtrap.

"Alpha squad, what are you playing at?" Marcus barked.

"We… pointers to think the last seeder… hiding there. We're… going to take it out, an… get better signal if you meet us there," Agron called back.

"Alpha squad, hold for response," Marcus dropped his hand and turned to his squad," They think the last seeder is at Stonewall Canals."

"Shit… that doesn't sound unrealistic," Dom said with a sigh.

"Of all the places-" Baird started.

"Well, they'd be right," Eric piped up," That's exactly where the last one of these suckers is- right in the middle of those canals."

"You're positive?" Marcus both prayed for a defined yes and an unsure answer. If the kid was unsure, then there could be some decision as to where the next move would be towards. They could head out and see just where exactly their luck headed them. But… if otherwise… they would be headed straight into a real war zone.

"Yeah. Dead positive," Eric nodded his head raptly.

"Dead is all we'll be if this goes badly," Marcus growled, and lifted his hand again to his earpiece. "Alpha squad, we'll meet you there."

"Sweet! And… be able… meet him!" the response stated as Marcus groaned and let his hand drop. Something about that voice just rubbed him the wrong way.

"So… I guess we're going to Stonewall," Marcus announced. "Anyone got any plans?"

"Let's get there first, and then we can think of a game plan," Cole provided as Eric turned away and started off towards several buildings.

"And where are you going?" Baird called.

"You want a quick way there?" Eric called over Frank as they tucked inside a semi-collapsed roof.

"…Lead on, kid," Dom stated, a smile just managing to creep across his face at the look of Bairds incredulous look. He turned to Marcus," What else did they say?"

"I dunno. Heard something about 'meat' or 'meeting something' or someone… don't like the sounds of it to be honest," Marcus thought through the words.

Yeah, I know what you mean."

* * *

Silly Marcus! You know full well that you will be meeting the man of green steel… or, err, neo steel… titanium… whatever the Mark IV suit is made of. Help me out here, fellow nerds XD

So, since I last left a chapter in this story, what has happened? REACH.

And the worst part is I still don't HAVE IT! :C This isn't cool! To be fair though, I found Minecraft. GOOD GAWD, for those of you who are easily addicted by games that offer endless replayability and customization, STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MINECRAFT! It will grab you worse than any MMO or FPS and it won't let go. And to make it worse… its only 13.50 in US currency… :O since when did games get so inexpensive?

Not getting too off track, I believe I owe you (readers) an explanation as to my absence. First, the computer on which I am currently working on died. It had a terrible Credit card hunting virus that wanted Walter (my Computer's) soul. So I switched to my old, handy dandy Laptop. It died soon after. Yes. I am not shitting you. So I pulled out a windows 98 and tried there… no Ethernet support.

(miles around, people hear EZB letting loose a bloodcurdling scream.)

Yeah, no internet for me. Up until recently, when I did some researching and found out how newbish I had been. So I fixed it up with a total system wipe, and have been recollected all my info slowly. But I'm back with writing and don't plan on stopping!

Well boys (and maybe girls. I have no idea XD), I have a Japanese class I must attend soon this afternoon. So while I love to stay and chat, I really must be going.

Seeya la-

(Mitsurugi, Samurai Badass from Soul Calibur rolls into the room, quickly stands, and cuts EZB's head off in one swipe.)

Mitsurugi: Ha! You didn't think you could get away from your random death, did you? You should be honored with being killed with my blade! (pokes EZB's lifeless head with his toe, and then kicks it through a window) That's right, game over!


	5. Stonewall Canals

The channels and forgotten rivers that flowed through the broken cities had a common junction known as Stonewall Canals. It was here that many had once taken long walks next to shimmering waters, basking in the glory that was amazing architecture and stonework. Since fourteen years it had been perverted and corrupted to a war camp for Locust. Stacks of sandbags and various barricades provided various covers for the encroaching and rather permanent residents of the canals. The canals themselves were somewhat ideal in tactic strategy. Three primary bridges allowed passage over the ankle deeper water that flowed easily past the fortifications. One side of these canals were open and exposed, once a small garden like park. The other was walled, a highway for passers by.

A Locust high ranking soldier walked past several others. It was obvious of its stature due to its size and many scars it bore, bearing witness to its ability to survive and endure. The beady eyes glared at others as they passed. It was his duty to guard these canals; he would obey his general and his queen until the end. And to the abysmally small mind of the soldier, the idea of his life ending while on duty at the canals was not a possibility.

On the far end of the canals, a human soldier darted, unnoticed, through the water to one side. Following him were five others, each attempting to stay as low and run as quickly as possible.

"Shit, that water is cold as my mother," Baird stated as he slid next to Cole, all six of the soldiers lining up against the protection of the alleyway.

"So now we just wait for Alpha," Dom stated, also peeking out of the wall with Marcus. "I got to say… this isn't up with the worlds greatest ideas."

"Which is why it'll work," Hank suggested, last in the six man line to death; he got several peculiar looks from the others, "err- right?"

"I hope so. I can't remember the last time some poor bastard was sent here to die," Marcus said as he eyed the central bridge, "they even have a troika. Perfect."

"Months ago. It was a routine trip out that got ugly," Baird answered expertly.

"I don't think anyone comes back from this place," Dom sighed as he shook some water out of his boot, "I'm honestly surprised I don't see any bodies, or bones."

"Probably take them back for whatever sick fucking things they do with the dead," Marcus guessed, "doesn't really matter." Marcus exclaimed as he heard that familiar static shout from his ear. It was probably his bad luck, like usual, that had this catch the attention of a patrolling grub, who heard the sudden sound. Growling and turning to the corner, it cautiously approached, only to be suddenly grabbed and yanked out of sight. Cole easily cracked it's vertebra in two. "Alpha squad, before you say jack shit," Marcus growled, beyond annoyed with the lack of change with the communication between the two groups, "change the damn transition strength!"

"…is this better?" said the voice of the Alpha Squad commander, through static but now easily recognizable.

"Much," Marcus nodded.

"Not by much! Getting us killed nearly three times really puts relations on a damper!" Baird hissed as he shoved the twitching grub body into a corner.

"Sorry, getting the hang of this new transceiver," there were several other voices, cut out from the static, that tried to shout, or by the sound of it, hiss to the com, "yeah, so where are you guys? We've been here for a minute or so, and the only life we've seen is the one that likes to curb stomp us. And that's not my ex's mother."

"We're on the southeast side, by the canal drains," Marcus spied past their protection, trying to get a glance under the bridge. It should have been a straight shot to the other side, only slightly blocked by pieces of rock and marble. Only a second or two later did a human head appear at the far end, looking right back at Marcus.

"Howdy!" he sergeant whispered from the other side.

"Great to see you, Sergeant. Now, perhaps we can get a plan going?"

* * *

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good," Sergeant Mark Agron replied from their side. He turned and slid back against the wall, his eyes on his squad mates, lingering only for a moment on the Spartan, who was at ease as he leaned out into the open, watching the Locust from his distance. "Anyone got an idea?"

"How about we march around and not die?" Taylor asked earnestly.

"There aren't any paths for kilometers," Carey commented grimly.

"I'll crawl that distance if it doesn't mean we get turned into gravy!"

"A surprise attack is obviously the answer," Howard added.

"Yeah, I got that," Mark replied thoughtfully, scratching his stubble. "But how… there's got to be at least thirty of them… maybe more."

"We could try for shock and awe?" Taylor suggested after a brief pause, starching the back of his head against the wall," 'nades and launchers out first and then we could mop up the rest."

"Doesn't really take care of the troika," Mark pointed out.

"Shit."

"While the slam is going down, Carey, could you-"

"Shock and awe will be fine," Cortana piped in.

"What?" All four turned.

"Just give the chief and I some cover and we'll take care of the third bridge. Once that's taken care of, we'll just mop them up," Cortana tried a little more detail, "there are narrows that go along the side of the canals to our lefts. We'll run down those and easily take care of them."

"You're… that's all then?" Mark asked incredulously," just take care of the thirty or so guns aimed at you-"

"If I am correct, both squads attack at once; only ten or so firing guns will be directed at you. The rest will pitch in as support or do exactly as myself and the chief will do- sneak around. Once again, that's where we come in."

"But-"

"Sir… I say we go with it," Howard said to the turned, and rather stunned Mark. His pride was bruised once again. He wasn't fresh, but he was no where near as experienced and know ledged as Howard. But his place as commander was being side cast by the instant plans that always seemed to work. But Mark also knew that this guy either was an ass that had luck or… had luck like no one other. He hadn't screwed up yet.

"Ok. Delta squad," Mark called to the allies. "We've got a plan in the works here. It's simple, but we think it might work."

* * *

"Let's hear it," replied the legendary war veteran of Marcus Fenix. It stilled awed the four cogs on the south west side of the canals to be close enough to see him, and talk immediately to him.

"We're going to do a standard push- provide basic cover fire at the side entrances and under arc of the bridges. While we spray and do a little soul searching for god… you know, spray and pray, one of ours goes in the back and deals the real damage to the central support bridge, and more importantly, takes out the troika. He's going to flank 'em right up the butt."

"One person?" Marcus asked immediately.

"We really can't let these guys figure out we've sent anyone from our ranks in to do a little spying. They know we act in squads of four or so, so if we send one in, they won't think too much."

"They never thought much to begin with," Marcus replied. "Who's going in then?" Marcus turned to his allies, including the two teens, "we have a few more over here than we're supposed to. So we could have two rush in and just then have the four others start-"

"We've got a guy… don't worry," Mark interrupted from the radio. "We'll just keep the bullets a coming, and he'll take care of the rest."

"Who?" Marcus demanded.

"He calls himself the Chief. Some… Spartan or another, I don't know. He's on our side," Mark stated to Marcus's piling confusion. There was not only a person added to their numbers, but they didn't know certainly who he was?

"…you sure we can trust him?"

"Not… one hundred percent, but he kills Locust like crazy," Mark tried. "Been good enough for me."

"Fine," Marcus decided after a moan of frustration. Time was running out if they wanted this done before noon. "Just tell us when."

"Well I guess we'll- oh shi- NOW NOW! HIT THEM NOW!" Mark suddenly shouted, and from across the canals, guns began their jobs.

"Let's MOVE!" Marcus demanded as he plowed through the water and made his way to the backside of the bridge. Locus were already howling and shouting.

"Bring it on!" Cole roared, splitting with Baird and the two strandeds to the lower waterway. As they split, Dom and Marcus started for the sidewalks, and slid against the wall, glancing out before picking targets. Across their vision, battle began, and they noticed the troika getting geared up, still inoperable. Grubs took cover, others standing in their superiority, while their foes, Alpha squad started their attack. It seemed desperate. Marcus nodded to Dom, who waited for him to lunge out, a bellow of a roar announcing his attack as he advanced to above the bridge, shooting down three turned Locust in his process.

Then there was a flash of green on the far bridge.

"Marcus, you saw that, right?" Dom asked, halting to take cover from return fire as he provided for Marcus.

"I don't know what it was, but yeah I saw it!" Marcus shouted back, pulling his gun out to take down a Grub stupid enough to linger while attacking Baird. "Eat shit and die. Cole!" Marcus shouted, turning to the large black man," is the hammer ready?"

"Shit man," Cole shouted," there isn't a strong enough signal for this puppy to be used!"

"Fuuuck!" Marcus roared, plowing down another Grub, arrogant enough to try to get closer. They were doing good against these spare inhuman soldiers, but with the reinforcing soldiers in the center of the canals, they needed what power they could get. Without the hammer, this could end badly.

* * *

The Chief was in. Inside the side passes that bordered the canals, he stepped as quietly as he could for being a half ton humanoid in weight. The visor scanned the darker environment as the walls shook from the fight outside, but it just seemed as natural as background wind to him. Walls, floors, guns, all of them shook wherever he went. Although he couldn't hide too long. That gun in the center was getting prepped, and so he needed that rush to get inside.

"Chief, the seeder we've been looking for… I think it's hiding underneath one of their fortifications nearby. On the other side of the canals," Cortana said. Her attempts at pinpointing the interference for long distance transmissions had her momentarily occupied. But she was sure it was coming from underneath the granite on the other side, easily protected by the large turret gun overlooking the center.

"Then we'll just peel it away and blow it up when we get there," he stated simply. Then a shadow appeared from the distance. For a moment, he was sure he was confronted by a Brute- large and bulky and slower than the others.

"BOOM."

The Chief tucked himself to the side as a collection of rocket propelled grenades shot at him. The thing was uglier, and definitely stupider than the Brutes he was used to. It looked like a beefed up version of the other Locust, even complete with a beefed up gun. Without hesitation as he spun back to his feet, the chief whipped out his remaining rifle and began his attack, advancing slowly. The larger locust certainly made up for its stupidity and terrible reflexes with sheer toughness. It's skin seemed leathery and the bullets shot at it only seemed to penetrate the surface of the skin, drawing blood but not breaking bone and gut.

"What the hell! Careful!" Cortana warned as it reloaded, unhindered with its wounded arms and chest. The Chief had no time for quick action, so he leapt back and to the side, sliding to a stop and hearing the explosion in the back. He couldn't let this thing get in his way. Tossing his remaining rifle to the side, he instead charged, putting his head down and slamming all his weight into the large creature. While it wasn't a light Locust, it most certainly wasn't able to shove off half a metric ton running at it. It gaffed and fell backwards, tumbling and flopping against the wall and finally to the floor as the chief slid and turned, grabbing the nearly reloaded weapon.

The large Locust snarled as it's face was beaten in with one quick bash from the weapon.

"That could have been messier," Cortana remarked at the sight of the dead Boomer.

"Wasn't going to ask him to stay down," The Chief remarked, turning back to the third bridge. "Don't know how to reload it… yet," he stated, continuing his walk casually, not caring about the large fresh carcass behind him. After a quickly shake down of the grenade launcher, he got its feel and reloaded, ready for some demolition.

With a brief pause, he turned and walked into the light. The large turret was just finished, and several Grubs heard his footstep as he stopped, chuckled and raised his newly acquired gun. He discovered it had a hell of a kick just as the stunned Locust realized that they were dead; their pieces splattered all around with the gory demise and the chief decided to try yet some more of the local flavor- the large, just finished mounted gun seemed the perfect pick. Shouldering his rocket launcher thing, he stepped up to this beauty of a weapon, and decided the Grubs in the center would be the best initial test; so caught on by attacking his allies. The two barrels of the gun began to whir, and spin…

Marcus froze. What was at first an initial distracted became a remarkable miracle. Follow an explosion at the center bridge, his next Locust targets were ripped apart like rags of paper. The hail of death was perfect, effortless pulling and tearing the enemy apart with each bullet, and all in the right moments. Just as one Locust turned to its attacker, it was taken down. Marcus, in this sense of awe, slowly moved his eyes up the stream of bullets, only then to be caught by a wall by the third bridge falling apart. At the small series of steps, a massive hole emerged, tearing apart the stone, and plunging the bits of bodies into the darkness.

"E-HOLE!" Marcus shouted quickly.

"Fire in the hole!" Dom roared as he tossed a grenade at the hole, only for it to bounce back as a large seeder climbed its way out, its large appendages breaking into the structures and bridge. The troika fell with the collapsing granite, but the damage had been done to the locust. Few remained but the Seeder and its new spawn.

"Get the HOD out Cole!" Marcus shouted quickly, not wanting a chance for Nemacyst to pop out.

"I'm on it!" Cole roared, the teams moving out quickly, keeping their guns on the last positions of Locust. "Signal… I got- shit, it's charging!"

"You've got to be kidding!" Marcus shouted as he abandoned his cover, running near by one of the seeder legs. He felt something walk past him, kick up one of the fallen locust's Lancer rifles, and after punching a seeder leg out of its way start to chainsaw the side of the creature, which began to gargle and hiss angrily.

"Enjoy," the newcomer stated casually as it stuffed something into the wound. The being spun and dived out from the legs, rolling past the four legendary squad members of Delta, and kneeling as something inside the monster went off. It howled as shards of razor sharp foot long shrapnel soared inside its innards, piercing and shredding it apart from the inside. But it still heaved, quaking with terrible muscle contractions that produced waves of blood, as it attempted to push out Nemacyst.

"I got signal baby!" Cole roared as the beast tried mounting itself up again. "Feel that hammer, bitch!" Cole whooped as the ridiculously loud and hot beam of light and power roared down, smashing into the already harmed carapace of the Seeder. The heat felt like it was cooking even the stone around it, searing the stone around the area into lava. If the beam's initial damage didn't kill the Seeder, the fire and heat roasted it to death. It roared and hissed more and more, finally going limp and sliding back into its hole, taking most of its rubble with it. It was taken care of this time. The last Locust was then taken out, a single shot to its head as it turned and ran, only just caught by Carey's miraculous accuracy.

"Hell yeah!" Mark whooped as he ran over, thrusting his fist into the air as he and the others ran to the fellow gears," I can't believe we did that! We won that shit! Quickly too!"

"Alpha squad… nice to see you in person. Alive too," Marcus added coolly.

"Hell yeah. I'm Mark Agron, by the way. This is Alpha," Mark nodded quickly to the following soldiers with excitement and enthusiasm," Taylor's there, that's Carey, Howard's the big guy-"

"You're… number 83?" Taylor started hesitantly, and suddenly got a huge grin, pointing to Cole with a smile that could have sold a jar of dirt to a salesman.

"You know it baby! The one and only!" Cole nodded happily.

"Howard, Carey, you got a pen?" Taylor asked around desperately," he's got to sign my gun!"

"The names Dom," Dom asked as he shook hands with Mark," glad the Locust didn't get to you before we did. It was a hell of trip to get here."

"Man, you have no idea… we-" Mark began.

"Hey Marcus," Eric suddenly appeared with Frank, walking away from whatever was behind Marcus," eh… who's that?" A sudden silence was cast on the group. Those turned to Marcus's eyes widened or they rubbed their eyes, unsure of what they saw. Marcus turned slowly, now recalling that strange flash of green. Behind him was a figure, stoic as it was tall, looming over them all, watching silently.

"Chief, what's with the quiet treatment?" Mark asked hopefully, laughing awkwardly. The individual said nothing, turning the visor to the group. Each of their eyes seemed full of either awe, confusion or amusement… all but one. The heavily scarred and leader of Delta stared at him with calculation.

"You're quiet for one who just won a fight," Marcus noted.

"Same goes for you," The Chief replied. Marcus couldn't help but feel take aback by this figure. It's armor was alien from anything he had ever seen before, scratched, but not anywhere near broken or harmed. It was terribly tall and imposing; ghostlike but not ethereal. Something out of a story book about superheroes or legends right in front of him.

"Who're you?" Dom inquired.

"I am Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 of the UNSC Marines," he recited after a moment.

"A soldier?" Marcus inquired, familiar with Petty Officers "I've never heard of any of that stuff before… where're you from?"

"Earth."

"Also… never heard of that before," Marcus again sighed. "You made that armor?"

"Chief, I don't think we're going to get anything new results in terms of understanding one another from these guys," Cortana stated. Once again the newest to him gawked or blinked in misunderstanding.

"It can switch voices? Or… sexes?" Baird gasped in awe. Cortana only sighed allowing herself an invisible but very appropriate face palm.

"No man, it's something like a helper AI or something… they can talk whenever they want, but I think the Chief guy is the one with the body," Taylor summed up.

"Didn't you all need to take care of those Seeders so you could get in touch with someone?" Cortana bitterly asked of the group.

"Oh yeah!" Mark exclaimed. He and Marcus raised their arms.

"This is Alpha!"

"This is Delta!" The two sergeants gave each other a look for a moment. Mark shrugged and walked off, going to prod a dead grub with his foot. "This is Delta Squad! We've regrouped with Alpha and are positioned at Stonewall Canals. Command, do you read?"

"Affirmative Marcus, it's great to hear from you again," the voice of Anya Stroud replied," we were worried after the choppers came back almost an hour ahead of schedule."

"Yeah, well can you send them back! The area's Seeders have been taken out-"

"Marcus, You said you're at Stonewall Canals, right?" She interrupted. "I… I can't send anything for dust off nearby. There are still too many seeders in the region for a pick up. The pilots came back shaken up… at least one came back at all."

"Damn," Marcus looked to Dom and shook his head.

"You mean we're going to have to clear the skies of those things before we're picked up from work! Perfect!" Baird shouted.

"But I know that nearby the canals is an extensive sewer system that's been inactive to our understanding since E-day. It runs all the way under the city. If you take that you might avoid more trouble. And one of the mains leads out to the forest. You might be able to get there once you exit the tunnels."

"Wait, take the sewers?" Dom asked.

"Underground, man," Taylor pointed out. These words ran about the group like a physic sign of danger. To all but the chief, underground in small groups without proper shake down was almost certain death.

"Anya, are you sure about that?" Marcus tried.

"I know it's risky, but to be fair, all the activity has been at Stonewall Canals so far… and you guys cleared it right?"

"Confirm, Miss Stroud," Mark interjected quickly, suddenly tense and aggressive," Alpha and Delta cleared out Stonewall Canals. Hard to believe, right?"

"Ah… I think that's the sound of Sergeant Agron, is it not?" Anya replied, poison seeping through the com.

"Anya, we got it cleared. Now are you sure it's safe to do underground?" Marcus cut in, feeling trying to cut into this unexpected bitterness.

"Yes Marcus, the tunnels have been used prior to you guys being in the area. It connects to a large main pipe system that will actually leader outside the city, just into the area we're sending you. And by the pictures taken by our satellites, you should be able to see smoke rising from the wreckage when you get out of the tunnels."

"I don't like it, but unless we feel like cutting through more cities all day, I say we go for it. We're only a few hours from the edge of the city," Marcus stated to the group.

"I'm down for it," Taylor nodded, along with Dom. Cole was too busy playing with a dislocated hand of a Locust, Baird sighed, and mumbled about nothing being easy in the army, and the other two from Alpha said nothing, like the Chief.

"I'm sure she looked at it wrong," Mark spat off com, noticeably upset," you sure you aren't just paranoid that we'll survive our suicide mission, Miss Anya?"

"Knowing your amazing luck and leadership, I wont have to worry about that," Anya spat back.

"ANYA! We're heading there. We'll call you before we enter and when we're inside for communications. After that, we'll contact you as we leave. Delta out." Marcus turned to Mark, who was red in the face. "You got beef with Anya?"

"Yeah… it won't be a problem," he stated after a glare from Marcus.

"How could you have anything to hate with Anya?" Dom asked. She not only was a wonderfully beautiful person in looks and personality, but a great communications coordinator. She had yet to really put Alpha Squad in a situation they couldn't get past or get out of.

"It doesn't matter," Mark almost hissed, walking up to the ruins of the third bridge.

"Hey-" Dom asked as he passed.

"Let it go," Carey suddenly spoke up. "He won't talk to anyone about it."

"Well… great. Let's get moving then?" Dom asked around, hoping to ease up the sudden appearance of drama. "The tunnels are downstream, right?"

"Yup… more stinking, filthy, fucking tunnels to host a rat infested party in," Baird stated with morbid sarcasm. "How do I keep ending up in the most disgusting of places!"

"Chill out man," Taylor started, chuckling," we get to suffer along with you."

"These tunnels are supposed to be leftovers from the city. I doubt there is anything still there that could stink… but we'll see if anyone has moved in for vacancy since it was last used. You guys ready?" Marcus summed up, and walking through the cluster. Only as he did he realized they were still three heavy. "Look you two, you helped. Thanks. But-"

"Sorry, I just so happen to have no idea how to get home," Eric quickly interrupted," so I guess me and Frank are going to have to chill with you until we get to a nice, safe place."

"Oh don't start that bullshit!" Baird groaned.

"Marcus," Dom spoke to his friend directly, scooting past Alpha," I don't see why not. I mean they can work a gun, right?"

"I don't think we need anyone tagging along that could slow us down."

"When have we slowed you down?" Eric demanded. At that, Marcus turned and gave the two a rough look.

"Alright. You can stick around, but no freebees. If you tag along with us, you're soldiers. That means you listen to my and Agron's orders when we give 'em. Got it?"

"Got it," Eric and Frank replied with curt nods. Marcus restrained a smile at his recruiting, and once more had his eyes fall onto the Spartan, still standing with what Marcus now realized was a fallen soldiers Lancer in his arms. It looked, for such a large gun, oddly dwarfed by the large figures size and posture.

"Don't worry yourself Sergeant," Cortana answered before Fenix could ask," The Chief and I will be tagging along with you all. Until we get a more informed answer to our questions as to where we are, we'll stick along for the ride." Marcus nodded slowly, and turned, leading the group away from the canals.

"Cortana," the chief once again spoke to her," they had a channel to their command… why didn't you speak with them?"

"Chief… I think we should take this slowly. These guys are soldiers, and by the looks of it, anyone who aims a gun at their enemies is more than enough reason for them to consider us allies," Cortana reasoned, the chief still standing," that says a lot about the kind of world we're in, doesn't it? It's not the UNSC anymore… these guys are almost like rebels. They're fighting something that has taken away their world."

"So?"

"That has me worried about their government… what kind of people are leading their commanders? By the looks of it chief, these guys have good technology, but there are no signs of sophisticated AI or technology that comes close to Earth… so what happens if they realize how advanced we are?"

"What?"

"…I don't know chief… they could tell us to keep fighting, or try to dissect us for all I know. For now, lets just try to keep ourselves on the front lines until we get a better feel for what kind of government we're allying ourselves with."

"Hey chief?" Mark asked, stopping at the middle of the group for the chief. "You… er, two coming, right?"

"Just looking at the architecture," The Spartan stated, and began his walk with the Gears of War.

* * *

Oh man, EZB gone and got himself delayed again! . What ever shall we do about him and his… delay-y-ness?

Why, perhaps stab him with a pointy stick? I don't know. So NEWS!

Some of you might have realized a somewhat prominent piece missing from the previous version of this chapter. I wont say what it is, because it's somewhat of a spoiler, but i decided to move it to another time. With the new 'manuscript' of Men of War, lots of stuff has been changed, but not removed. Just trying to maybe answer some questions you guys might have had.

With classes ending this week, I will have much, much more time to write. I've said that before… so maybe I'll be right this time lol. This chapter though was really, REALLY hard for me to write particularly due to my love of its previous manifestation. I think that was one of the 'make or break' chapters for readers who weren't so sure about my style of writing and those who hadn't known me from The Hellsing War Chronicles. Seriously, if you like what I write and how I write it, and want something new, GO CHECK IT OUT! (it is my preferred story of what I write XD)

Well, there really isn't anything story related in terms of news… so I'll sigh off here and just say, "Until next t-"

(Spots Reader, Bloodwolf432 standing next to him) Eh… what are you doing in my room?

Bloodwolf432: I told you… (cracks his knuckles) I'm here to kill you.

WHAT? (grabs large scimitar) What are you saying! (tries to attack with sword)

Bloodwolf432: Huaaaaaaaa- (begins to hit EZB with lightning fast barrage of fists) ATATATATATATATATATATATA-WHUATA!

(Face is broken) Yu-bstrd!

Bloodwolf432: HUUUUAAAAAAAAAH- (again begins to attack, faster and faster) ATATATATATATATATATATATATA-WHUUATAA! (The last punch sends EZB flying backwards, crying in pain, only to explode into fire as he soars into the horizon, entirely limp)

Seeya Next time!

PS You're up next, Rhavis. And 'ATATATATA' is from Fist of the North Star; a badass, but somewhat old anime featuring, what else? Badasses. And props to Master of the Boot, who helped with editing this chapter, and a particularly good idea that will be showing it's face next chapter ;)


	6. 2010 Christmas Special

Warning!

This Chapter is completely non-canon and includes wall-breakage several times. If you can't handle the awesomeness of Gears of War and Halo mixed with ridicule and Christmas spirit, kindly leave your cookies at the door and go count your presents or the hundreds of dollars spent on relatives and loved ones.

Without further ado,

The Men of War Christmas Special.

Another day, another bitchin' battle. That was the thought of Marcus Fenix as he put down the last Locust, who had clawed at this bloody boot before he smashed its face into the concrete behind it. There was always something to the end of the fight that made him love live just a little more, but feel that life just a fleeting victory, a true and forever going test against death itself.

And it was snowing.

"The snow really gives the blood a different look, doesn't it?" Baird commented as he stepped into the ruined courtyard, following Baird and Cole, who had chased after Marcus, who had been determined to get the last of the Locust soldiers who had ambushed them. Just behind them, the Chief stepped out, shining rather magnificently in the afternoon snow. "I know I've said it before… but it just looks different!"

"Reminds me of a friend," Marcus grunted as he wiped the gore off his boot on the armor of the fallen Locust," big guy named Tai; had a fun way at looking at battles."

"Fun is the only way to look at a game," Cole stated calmly, just before sneezing in the cold. "Shit its cold out here."

"Could be worse. Could be up in the mountains," Marcus stated.

"You got him good then," Dom analyzed carefully the situation," should we head back?"

"I don't know…

"The street was blocked off to begin with. You should find some height to get an initial view on the surround before we decide what is next," Cortana stated at Marcus's pause," after that you guys should find some shelter for a few minutes. You're looking cold."

"Been cold all my life, no time to stop now," Marcus replied wittily. He turned about, looking for a spot that fit their descriptions. After a moment, he spotted a lone flagpole standing in the cold several buildings over. "Hey Baird… I'll give you a hundred bucks if you can make it to the top of that pole-"

"Fuck yeah, bet's on!" Baird, who had noticed the flag pole as well, took the bet without a second thought.

"With your hands wet," Marcus finished. Baird, who had nearly began a running pace, froze in place. With two looks at his hands, he turned to Marcus and gave him a finger. "What? can't do it?"

"I want to have SKIN left when I'm done with the bet!" Baird stated, gripping his rifle a little harder in the thought of his skin removed.

"I'll put in another hundred bucks if he can make it to the top," Dom added quickly.

"Same," The Chief stated. Baird slowly began to reconsider, but regretfully. Regardless to the amount of money he could get for doing this, the pain, unless he found an alternative to getting to the top. After a silent minute of thought, he spat on his hands, and nodded.

"Oh shit," Dom muttered in excitement.

"I got another hundred if he doesn't cry like a bitch after it's all done!" Cole laughed as Baird marched towards the pole. Finally getting to the large metallic, he snarled, and leapt up, wrapping his arms around the pole, he began to pull himself upwards, using nothing but his legs and his arms as grip.

"Shit, I didn't think of that," Marcus stated, turning to the others as Baird climbed higher and higher, keeping his voice low enough to talk without being overheard.

"You aren't going to give him anything, right?" Dom asked assumingly to the others.

"Nope."

"Naw, man."

"Hadn't planned it."

"Er… got a plan then?" Dom asked, realizing that the humiliation of having to eat their own words due to Baird manning up would be to much to deal with on the battlefield, the four started considering tactics to divert him from his progress.

"Hey Baird," shouted to the soldier, half way up," check for any signs of tall buildings.

"Sure thing!" Baird called back, and continued upwards.

"Baird, you sure you want to do this? I mean… we were just picking on you," Dom stated as Baird continued to inch his way upwards.

"I bet you wont be saying that when you all fork over four hundro to me, will ya!" Baird said and laughed raunchily. His progress, much to the four's duress, seemed to hasten.

"Hey, I think I found something!"

"You go check it out!" Baird shouted back to Dom.

"Baird, I think we got Locust!"

"Nope, got a clear view of everything around- so stop trying!" Baird shouted this time to Marcus, getting fed up, yet his devilish smile getting wider with satisfaction in their fear. And suddenly the pole shook terribly, threatening to throw Baird off as he shouted and clung for dear

Life," oh shit! Guys is there an earthquake!"

"I don't think he saw that one chief…" Marcus stated, having watched the Spartan calmly walk up and lightly kick the pole," try it again," when Baird then continued his progress upwards from his small break. To the chiefs displeasure, the soldier began to routinely check

The ground below him, making sure of no more hindrance from the others below.

"I say after we hand it over, we never speak of this again," Dom spoke up, surrendering to the prospect of handing over something to Baird that would make him smugger and cockier than ever. The money lost would suck too.

"Yeah," Cole shaking his head," never thought in my life he'd beat me at a bet like this."

"Ask him when he gets down that if we can't do what he did, we'll double the money?" Dom asked to the others," get a chance at getting it back?"

"What, and if one of us fuck up, he gets two hundred from each of us?" Marcus asked, insulted by the prospect of giving anything to the man. "No thanks… what's up chief?" Marcus noticed after a defeated moment that the chief had been staring past the pole, looking up into the sky.

"I see something heading towards us," the chief stated.

"I can't see anything in the clouds…" Marcus himself said as he squinted up at the sky. Yet… something indeed seemed to be stirring in the clouds above. As the four below watched far above, Baird was dangerously close to the top, but completely oblivious to the thing in the sky. "Baird, come on down," Marcus said, watching the clouds themselves twist and turn to the path of a single red light, falling from the sky and turning right for them.

"Oh I bet you all thought," Baird scooted himself up a little bit more, turning to look at the four," that I would wuss out, or hell fuck up, but guess what," the four began to back away as the cloud spiraling thing got closer, flying at dangerous speeds," I'm going to make you eat those words… damn it's getting windy-" he turned back to his pole to the bottom end of a tornado swirling at him just in time for him to scream like a girl and jump out of the way just in time. The pole snapped at the center and Baird fell to the ground, face first into the snow, as the other four dove into cover, the tornado summoning object sliding on the snow covered ground.

What sounded like bells rang in the air, as the four still standing soldiers slowly peeked out of their cover, watching the mist, which emanated a faint red glow. Cole was brave enough to run out into the courtyard and stand, his gun level at the possible threat. Soon followed Dom, who stepped onto the still Baird, who grunted. As Dom apologized quickly, Marcus and the chief both joined the three, keeping themselves level with their guns drawn.

"It… it couldn't be," The chief said with Cortana.

"What?" Marcus asked, as something loud and big stepped into the snow. The mist, while covering the object completely, slowly gave way to massive, round figure stepping forward.

"It… it's-" the chief began.

"Ho, ho-" At the loud sound, Marcus fired a single bullet at the figure, who instantly shut up and keeled up and fell backwards. Master Chief dropped his gun.

"Shit!" Marcus shoted, at his misfire.

"What happened?" Baird asked, his voice muffled from his face being in a foot of snow.

"Ah man, you think it's safe?" Dom asked, wanting to get closer. As soon as he said this, a smaller figure, heaving angrily rushed out of the snow and slid next to the falling large one. With a growl it spoke.

"You bastards…" the small voice stated," I never thought in all my years of working with the man we would come across such SHITHEADS," the two foot man approached," who could be capable of actually putting a bullet in the big man! What the fuck is with you assholes! FUCK!"

Baird lifted his head up just in time to see a very short, very angry man spit at them. He was covered in, for better terms, could be described as festive battle gear. He had small armor that had been colored with red and green paint, and on his chest was a single white circle with a red dot on the inside to the lower right. Covering his face was a circular helmet with a black visor covering the face.

"What… the… hell is going on?" Marcus said slowly.

"You fucking imbreds don't get it, do you!" the small figure stated, as he turned and vanished for a second. After another pause passed, the mist began to vanish as a large vacuuming sound began. And as Baird stood up, all four gears lost control for their jaw. A large sleigh was parked, attached with large rockets and turbines, along with several stubby wings that poked awkwardly out on the sides. And on the ground was a large man in red coat and pants with white fleece. His hat had fallen from his bald head, a single bullet hole right between the eyes.

"You killed-" the man began, removed his helmet and throwing it down at the ground as he turned away from the sleigh.

"Santa," the chief stated, awestruck. "He's… the guy who comes around every Christmas… gives great gifts to good children," and his speech was interrupted by genuine sobbing," and even for the bad children he would give something to them! He… he'd give them coal, so they couldn't be so cold at night! And… and-" his voice became incomprehensible as he began to cry into the snow.

"Ah… oh shit," Marcus stated, his hands becoming numb from shock," and that makes you-"

"An elf- no shit!" the elf helper stated as he tossed off the helmet, revealing his short red hair and long ears. "I told you man," he said to the body of Santa Claus," if you had worn body armor… or maybe a helmet, like me, this wouldn't have happened…"

"I don't know man, if something big with a deep voice walked to me with armor on," Baird stated matter of factly," I'd shoot it even more-"

"But he wouldn't be DEAD now, would he you assfucknuggets!" the elf cursed fluently.

"…assfucknuggets?" Baird repeated in awe. The elf, in total disregard for the others, approached the broken Spartan at the snow.

"Hey, earthling!" the elf demanded. The Chief turned his head to the figure, snow covering his visor. "Looks like you're the only one to really recognize him, so… I'll make you a deal. We elves can't do the business of the Claus ourselves, so I need someone else with Christmas spirit to continue his job for me. This can all be forgiven if you help out tonight."

"Wait… what do you mean?" Marcus demanded. The elf, being addressed by Marcus, took several revolted steps back.

"YOU! The murderer himself thinks he can speak to the most trusted elvish helper! YOU! YYOOUU!"

"Uh… sorry?" Marcus tried before getting a quickly made snowball in his face.

"All we wanted was some information… who was to get the gifts and who to get the coal… but you had to go and SHOOT him didn't you!" the small man demanded as Marcus scrubbed the snow out of his nose.

"I… I'll do it," The chief slowly stood up.

"Oh… well, great! Come this way," the elf stated after a pause in his aggressive attitude towards Marcus. "You will be driving the sleigh and dictating which groups we pass over get what gifts. You'll need this," the elf grabbed the fallen hat from Santa's body and tossed it to the chief, who clutched it tenderly as he could," with that hat you get the abilities of Santa for the night. So get onboard then!"

"Wait… this is still a little sudden," Cortana asked in stead for the chief," we're supposed to be the replacement for Santa Claus himself? And of all places, for an earth legend, what is he doing on Sera? There aren't many people who still celebrate, or even remember, Christmas!"

"Never stopped him before, when people used to think it was the parents who put presents under the trees," the elf replied," besides, I just have to wait until he respawns. Then we can get back home but we don't have all night to wait for him to come back!" The elf stated, climbing into the sleigh and onto the large bag in the back of the object to force the hat around the chiefs helmet," so hurry it up."

"Wait up," Marcus said, appearing behind the sleigh, reaching up and grabbing the elf by the neck collar," what the hell does re-spawn mean?"

"It's a term I doubt you're familiar with- ask him!" the elf nodded to the chief.

"…I'll explain it later," the chief said after a moment, and climbed into the sleigh. Inside the vehicle were knobs and various buttons, switches, and wheels. It looked like a hastily put together operating system for a complicated contraption.

"As you can see," the elf stated, still hovering in the air from Marcus's grip," he had to removed the reindeer from the whole procedure due to the possibility of them getting shot down in this hostile world. So we fashioned the fusion endless-fuel rockets to either sides and welded the wings on the sides so we could get the flight patterns working! It's a nice start for a first attempt, if I don't say so-" the elf suddenly was thrown by Marcus over to Santas' corpse," WHAT GIVES! Do you just have something against holiday spirit you fuck? Shoot Santa, and now mistreat elves!"

"Sorry, but you should watch your buddies body if he means that much, and let us experienced guys handle the flying," Marcus state as he climbed into the sleigh, nodding at the others to join, who were more than hesitant to get closer to the red object.

"What-" the elf started, only to have a gun pointed at him from Marcus.

"Do you 'respawn'?" he asked to the elf, now backing away. "Trust me, keep your man under cover and we'll do the dirty work ourselves. This thing is… what are we supposed to do?"

"Give gifts to the world," Cortana replied simply as Cole, Dom and Baird climbed aboard.

"Yeah… I think we know what kinds of gifts to deliver to people. So just stay put, and we'll be back before you know it!" Marcus stated as he jumped inside the surprisingly spacious sleigh. With two seats, each easily sitting four people, it was built for comfort and easy reach for the massive red bag in the last section, the hole and rope tying it closed hanging limp to the side. "What's in the bag?"

"… Presents," the chief said as he flicked on the ignition switch. Instantly the rockets began to roar and the entire thing began to hover further and further into the air.

"Shit, this thing works!" Cole said as he looked over the edge as the gained more and more height.

"Fasten your seatbelts," The Chief said as he found a little red button with a cartoon image of a rocket on it," lets put some speed to this trip," and he pushed the button. Instantly, all five had their eyeballs slammed into the back of their heads, their backs smashed into their seats, and their faces pulled back at the ridiculous speed they suddenly soared at. Only the chief, used to high-velocity situations, remained in the character as the others screamed loudly. After all, he had the pride of being assigned the Santa of Sera. After a full minute of blasting through the sky, gaining height, the speeds slowed and they moved at a King Ravens pace.

"Don't ever push that button again," Baird demanded as he massaged his face," that… just hurt."

"Okay, so what's the plan? Are we really going through with this plan? Give gifts to people?" Dom asked about.

"I guess," Marcus said, looking behind him past the three to the bag. "Baird, check what's in that." Baird turned himself and pulled the bags opening to him, and reached inside. Seconds passed as he waved his arm into the massive bag, and found nothing. "Hurry it up Baird!"

"Look man I'm trying! Can't find anything in this!"

"There's got to be something in that," Dom pointed out, looking at its massive size- easily big enough to fit a large car inside.

"What do you want to come out, hu?" Baird demanded, frustration at his efforts producing nothing.

"Some goggles would be nice!" Marcus shouted back, his eyes blistering from the freezing wind.

"Yeah, like I'll find… hold up," Baird suddenly said, his eyes widening as he slowly pulled his arm and hand out four goggles in his hands. "Four… four exact goggles for four people who need them. What are the odds of that?"

"Just hand them over," Marcus stated, taking one of them from Baird, and fastening them around his eyes, enjoying the comfort," fit perfectly."

"Hold on," Baird suddenly had a Eureka moment," hey Cole, wish for something. Anything at all!"

"Hmm… ribs man! I wish for some Bar-Bee-Q ribs!" with a quick reach inside, Baird slowly pulled out a large plate, with smoking brown and juicy ribs. Cole's mouth fell open. "What? No way in hell was there just food laying around-" he ripped off a piece and devoured it," and this piping hot n' fresh just laying around in there!"

"I wish for an authentic pre-Pendulum Lancer Rifle," Dom stated quickly, only for Baird, who had eagerly reached inside, to pull out a shining, pristine rifle," oh my god… this is just pretty."

"I want some class A hookers!" Baird wished, and dived into the bag headfirst up to his chest. Moments passed as he searched," come on… come on! WHERE ARE MY HOOKERS?"

"Maybe it can't make people," Marcus suggested," and I want-"

"We can't give ourselves gifts for the entire night," The chief interrupted. We've got a job to do."

"And why not!" Dom, Cole, and Baird all demanded at the same time.

"Because I'll tip this thing over if we don't," the chief ordered, his tone deadly. The three in the back exchanged looks, suddenly aware how serious the Chief was taking his new job.

"All right, all right, we give some others shit too," Baird said after a tense moment. "So who's first?"

"Chief- look. Radar," Cortana pointed out a small switch. As he flipped it, a large radar screen materialized onto the sleigh. As it appeared, several icons too pointed out locations of individuals.

"Looks like there are lots of survivors and Strandeds in the area," Marcus said to others as he looked over the screen," maybe we can give them something special."

"What? Fuck the stranded. They're assholes to us!" Baird whined, only to received what could be a deadly and daring glare from the chief. "O-okay… What do we give 'em?"

"I don't know… a gun? Pull out a lancer," Marcus ordered and Baird indeed reached in and pulled out an average looking Lancer Rifle.

"Weapon- check."

"Okay… now what? Do we land and just hand this off to them?" Dom stated, looking at the ground far below.

"That would take too long. Just reach inside for an attachable parachute and tie it together and drop it off when we say so," Cortana ordered, keeping close tabs on the radar.

"Sounds good blue lady," Baird responded, and did as ordered. Reaching inside quickly and pulling a red and green striped mini-chute. After trying it up, he handed it to Dom, who looked over the edge and waited.

"When?"

"Now," Cortana ordered as the Radar bleep was about to pass under the sleigh. Do tossed the gun off the side and it plummeted far before having its parasite deployed and begin to float to the bottom. "Okay… just an entire night more of this to go," she stated. Indeed, for hours it passed, passing out weapons, ammo crates, and occasional nude magazines, to surviving stranded clusters and cog squads lucky enough to come across. But after what could have been hours, Cortana noticed something new.

"We have cluster of Locust," she said to the others. Baird, who was busy diving into a warm piece of chocolate cake, almost choked, and spat the uneaten chunks over the side.

"We aren't giving them shit!" Marcus growled, taking a large bite out of his quality made cheeseburger, half tempted to slap the radar for even considering them for present giving.

"Oh yes we are… the indicator says they're on the 'naughty list'. Any ideas on what we should give them?" Cortana suggested to the others. Cole, now asleep after eating three entire feasts, snorted loudly as Baird, who slowly got a demonic smile on his face, and Dom, who nodded in satisfaction.

"Payback, anyone?" Dom stated as he and Baird reached inside the bag. Each pulled out a fistful of grenades.

"Let me," Baird said as he took the grenades and began to fasten them together, making a mega-grenade. "It'll go off once they hit the ground."

"Dom," the chief said suddenly," reach inside for me." Doing as told, Dom reached inside and pulled out a strange looking, but now familiar weapon- a spike grenade the chief had used several times previous.

"Nice… for added effect I see," Dom said as Baird eagerly took it and strapped it to the rest of the explosives.

"Say when," Baird stated, trying to spot the exact location he was to drop the deadly package to.

"Right… now!" Cortana stated and the bomb was dropped. Marcus, Dom and Baird all looked out from their seats, watching the descent of the grenades. A full minute passed before a serious of bright lights flashed from the ground below, and the three cheered, stirring Cole for a moment, and getting the "Look, up in the sky!" achievement.

"You know… I kind of like this holiday suddenly," Marcus admitted. "Where's the next pile of Locust we can bomb?" he asked to the screen.

"Coming up soon actually," Cortana stated," and we've got a big group too. We'll need something bigger than grenades."

"I got nothing then," Marcus admitted. Baird gave a bark like laugh.

"Leave that to me," he reached inside, and pulled a small cube wrapped in plastic, with a detonator on top," rough estimate until this hits the ground?"

"I guess it depends on how much of a bang this gives," Dom said, thinking.

"If it's within five hundred feet, there won't be anything left of it," Baird bragged, looking at the package with wonder.

"A minute will do then," the chief stated, steering to the newest target.

"Aaaand… now! Drop!" Cortana announced to Baird delight. The three again poked their heads out and watched as the package plummeted from the sky. With great anticipation the three waited and watched, the smaller object descending into the darkness. The primary difference between the cluster of grenades and the little cube was while there were lights at the end of the grenade, a bright flash lit the area up and a shockwave slammed into the air a second or two later.

"Daayumn," Dom said in a hushed voice as the buildings around the target fell into even worse repair.

"It's no lightmass Bomb, but it'll get the job done," Marcus tucked himself back in, allowing himself a little smile at the thought of this becoming a regular holiday," I'm getting the hang of this. Dom, toss me a coffee."

"Status on the monitor says we're about done with the humans… but Locust population hasn't been completed yet," Cortana analyzed again.

"Eh, you can't hit every target in a single night-"

"Autopilot engaged," a voice called from the sleigh, and suddenly the ride buckled and tilted.

"Woah, woah, chief, come on, get us upwards," Baird asked with a little laugh," down is the last place I think we need to be."

"It's not me," the chief stated," the computer said auto pilot. So it looks like we're heading down."

"This wooden sleigh has autopilot? What the hell?" Dom demanded as the incline grew and the ground's distance shrank. "You know whatever we did we had better fix it because I don't want to test the strength of this thing versus the ground!"

"Yo why're we dropping?" Cole woke, just passing from the clouds. "Are we done?"

"We've got Locust to gift to… I guess the sleigh needs to go underground," the chief easily announced.

"I don't see an E hole to jump into!" Marcus shouted, worry getting to him. At the rate of the speed, and even with the ridiculous abilities the ride had, nothing had shown they could do a perfect turn a second from crashing.

"Shit, do something!" Baird shouted, clutching onto the seats as tightly as possible.

"Extreme Resonance Harmonic Gun activated," the same computer voice hummed coolly. Just before smashing into the rough concrete dead ahead, a small orb of light shot ahead, hitting the direct spot of impact. Where solid material had been, a large hole opened, stretching the concrete aside to make a swirling mass of a tunnel of light.

"HOLY SHIIIT!" the four gears roared as they fell into a short tunnel, only to appear in a huge cave setting. Once inside, the sleigh slowed, but continued, keeping below the various formations of rock and stone.

"That… was insane," Dom groaned, looking pale.

"Oh shit," Marcus also moaned, realizing where they were," we must be in the inner hollow."

The five took a good look around. Similar to the outer hollow only in size, the inner hollow certainly had it's differences. Large quantities of plants and fungus grew, creating natural light that gave the tunnels and eerie glow. Small creatures, including several large bats, hastened to distance themselves with the approaching red sleigh with rockets on either side. As they soared above constructed, or natural paths, streams of water flowed underneath them.

"It's not bad," the Chief remarked.

"For being the home of a genocidal species, it's not bad," Cortana added, monitoring the radar system like a hawk now," I hate to say it, but this thing looks like it's headed for a large structure. Swarming with Locust."

"Great, nothing but hostiles for us now," Marcus growled.

"Self-defenses engaged," the same voice announced coolly, and several loud whirrs, clanks, and twangs began to sound from under the sleigh. From under the wings, large duel chain guns and quad missile launchers appeared, and began to beep occasionally, rotating periodically.

"What the hell are those!" Cole asked, looking at the spinning weapon as it easily looked back and forth for possible threats.

"Must be some kind of sentry," Baird stated, looking closely at it's construction," it'll be good enough for keep them off us while we deliver some nice gifts."

"And how are going to do that? There could be millions inside this thing!" Dom asked, the realization and image of throwing grenade after grenade from the sleigh didn't seem a good enough prospect.

"Don' worry, I got this one," Marcus said, a deadly subtle smile creeping over his face as he climbed into the back, and pulled from the sack a large red metallic can. "Pull out a flare gun for me Dom," he asked as he climbed into the front seat. As the massive stonework of a fortress grew closer, the sleigh moved towards a large hole, that they realized was swarming with Reavers.

"Incoming!" Dom said as several of the Reavers leapt off their perches and soared away, and they passed inside the gaping hole. Marcus was stunned- it was a massive turkey shoot. Thousands of thousands of drones and boomers all clustered together, marching idly towards some goal. He only let himself be stunned for a moment, ripping off the can and letting the viscous liquid fall out. As it fell onto the many unsuspecting grubs below, he turned to Dom," Flare gun," he asked and was handed the weapon, he aimed and shot for a single drone, who unlike the others, hadn't noticed the highly volatile and flammable material being spilled on him and his comrades, providing an ample target. The trigger was pulled, and a long line of Locust instantly burst into flames.

"Hell yeah!" Cole instantly shouted," feel that warm holiday cheer!" more and more grubs began to run, spreading the fire to an uncontrollable inferno.

"Napalm better do me a good enough job," Marcus hummed, tossing the flare gun aside. "It'll spread around. Sticky shit."

"Hold up," the chief said, for the first time, getting up from his seat, reaching inside the bag, and pulling out a well wrapped and decorated package. Checking the radar once, he tossed it aside, and it soared perfectly into a small hole, leading into the inside of a large spiraling complex building.

"Chief, what was that?" Dom asked, checking behind them for an explosion that never came.

Meanwhile, inside the Locust stronghold, the queen herself strolled at a easy pace, unaware of the happenings in the rest of the hollow. She was considering the affects the cold would be having on her ware against the vile humans, and what sort of turns they could use against them. Humans were, after all, resourceful in their methods of destruction. And without warning, a large package fell at her feet with a large clap. Jumping slightly, she turned to red and green gift-wrapped object with curiosity. It looked odd… looking about, she found no source of the package. While her knowledge of assassination was great enough to hold her warning, something engaged her to take the package from the ground, and pull it to her, and easily remove the wrapping. What she found in her hands cause her to shake.

A scream roared from the building as they passed, having all four gears look back at the terrible cry of anguish.

"An autographed complete series of Stephanie Myers's Twilight," the chief said plainly.

"MY CHILDREN," a shaking voice cried from various speakers from the tunnel," THERE ARE INTRUDERS AMONGST US! DESTROY THEM AT ALL COSTS! YOUR QUEEN ORDERS YOU TO KILL THESE FOUL CREATURES!"

"Overkill," Dom said evenly," I mean… seriously…"

"Well I don't think she liked the present chief left for her," Marcus growled," Reavers are coming!"

"All right, it's getting us out of here," Cortana announced as the five spun about, their guns ready," so keep them off us and we can escape!"

"We got this! Bring on the… holy shit…" Unfortunately to them, they had completely underestimated the number of Reavers that could fit into a small space. Hundreds of the creatures, all ridden by Locust began to swarm the tunnels, charging after them, bullets flying past the small sleigh. "Get us out of here!"

"One burst of speed coming up," The Chief stated, pushing the little red button. The rockets in the back spluttered weakly, and nothing happened.

"Overdrive still in recharge- sixty seven percent complete," that same cool voice announced.

"Shit! We can't just fight these bastards off!" Marcus shouted, not hesitating to try anyway. All four gears began their fight, the sleigh doing a marvelous job of avoiding the endless steam of missiles launched at them. "There's too many of them!"

"Don't worry," the chief said," she'll hold together. As he said this the two turrets gave a loud noise, spun and added to the gunfire, returning missiles and gunfire with their own.

"Steady baby, hold together," Cole said, patting the sleigh and shooting down a Reaver rider, before ducking back in quickly to avoid several retaliation shots.

"I got an idea," the chief stated, giving up all hope for trying to steer the automated sleigh, now dangerously close to the ceiling. Climbing into the back of the sleigh, he reached inside and drew what could have been the biggest pair of handguns the four had ever seen. The first, silver in color and roughly a foot long, looked like an older replica of a handgun made monstrous. The second, similar in shape but black in color and a little longer, was pulled out second.

"What are those!" Baird demanded as the chide slowly climbed the large bag and loaded the two monstrous guns.

"I don't know… for some reason, I just got their image in my head," he turned and said, before cocking and rocking. The guns were easily as loud as a rocket being blow up. The impacts the bullets made on the Reavers and their drivers though were ridiculous. Each bullet slammed into a driver literally ripped a clean hole into them, easily a foot in diameter. The larger, black gun was worse. It easily ripped bodies into two with the power, and punctured the thick skin of even the largest of Reavers, dropping locust like flies.

"Shit! I want one of those!" Baird shouted, stilling contributing to the fight.

"No… you… wouldn't," the chief said after each shot," they kick worse than anything I've ever shot."

"Boys, we've got to get them off our tail before we leave!" Cortana reminded them, noticing how close they were to the auto-pilots estimated 'evacuation of inner hollow'.

"I guess I have to pull out the big guns," the chief mumbled, sliding to the opening again and nearly diving inside.

"Come on chief pull something out alrea-" the chief emerged, holding a single load, massive cannon, easily the same height as he was," hooooly shit!"

"I have no idea where I keep getting these ideas… but if the last worked," the chief stated, reaching inside for a small box before climbing up again," this should be the kicker."

He loaded a single round, easily 30 mm, and aimed. The blast from the weapon shook the entire tunnel, and the sleigh buckled down just enough to avoid smashing the chief into a jutting rock. The solid projectile pierced through everything it struck, for a single second revealing a hole through nine Reavers and four riders.

"Oh my god!" Marcus shouted.

"Now for test two," Master Chief said, reloading, the empty shell of the projectile flying off into the darkness of the floor below. With a quick snap, he the gun was again reloaded, and fired. Where the last cannon shot fired punctured through the entire crowd, this round hit the first target, and exploded into a roaring fire, consuming everything behind them. With added affect, the local ceiling to the blast began to collapse, crushing the few remaining trying to pursue.

"Extreme Resonance Harmonic Gun reactivated," the cool voice announced. The five turned from the action and realized that the sleigh was about to slam directly into a solid wall. As they screamed again a small ball of light shot forward and they entered the tunnel of light. Seconds passed as they did nothing but holler and scream in the trans-physical tunnel and suddenly found themselves above the city they started at.

"Ho… holy… holy shit…" Dom tried, feeling his stomach churn," this… that… not again, please?"

"I concur!" Baird said stupidly, not visible due to having taken cover under the seat.

"Looks like it's landing," the chief said, taking a small leap to the front seat, where Marcus had his eyes closed.

"So… we dropped off ammo and weapons to the good guys, blew up the bad guys on the surface, burned the Locust below, royally pissed off the queen, fucked up an entire army of Reavers, and lived all in one night. And no one knows we did it," Marcus ended," I kind of liked tonight. Wish I could do it again."

And for a minute, as the sleigh slowly descended, into the more and more familiar cityscape, the four reminisced about just how badass the night really had been. Free food, dead enemies, helping out the needy… they could get medals for this… if people had believed them, anyway. As the landed, they found, to their amazing, a jolly looking figure, with a large purple bruise above his nose chuckling merrily as they descended.

"Well done, boys!" the large man applauded as they finally felt the firm ground connect with the sleigh. "That was truly remarkable!"

"You're… I shot you," Marcus said, rubbing his eyes and looking around, unsure if there was a body just like him lying around.

"A mistake that I can forgive! After all, I can't keep doing my job if I am mortal, can I?" the booming laughter of the large man echoed around. "Now, while I count murder as being on the naughty list, you all did a great service to human kind on Sera today! Keeping the enemy inside after that sweeping attack was wonderful! Many lives will be spared now because of you all!"

"Wait… how did you know we did all of that?" Dom asked.

"I'm Santa Claus! I'm always watching! Ho, ho, ho!" he replied to a genuinely freaked out Dom and Baird. "Aside from getting shot, I must say this first year of Christmas on Sera was a success!"

"Boss, these guys fought off how many-" the elf pointed out curtly.

"Oh yes, true, but good will needs to be spread regardless of the time or wars! It's a universa-"

"I know boss, but we've got a schedule, remember? And we can't be seen, or-"

"Oh, I suppose so…" the Large man quickly shook each hand of the gears, and turned to the Spartan, still wearing his hat. "If I should come back to this planet, I will look you up for help. You certainly kept true to the spirit of Christmas," he said, and gently took off the hat and placed it back on. "A merry Christmas to you all! I hope the headache doesn't last too long," he stated, climbing back inside the sleigh.

"Headache? Cortana asked, as the five watched the elf also approach the vessel of win and turn, holding a small silver tube.

"Okay, everyone look at this," he said, putting sunglasses on his eyes," you ready, boss?" a thumbs up from Santa, now wearing sunglasses gave the confirmation. And there was a bright flash…

Baird woke up, face up to the sky. His back hurt terribly, and he realized very quickly why. Somehow he had landed on all of the others from the gust of wind. "Ow… shit," he said, quickly rolling off the others. "How the hell did that happen?" he asked as the others stirred.

"What… what on earth-" Cortana stated as the chief slowly stood up, after Cole, Marcus and Don got off him," I'm… I'm missing several sections of data…"

"That was weird… all I remember was that wind and… now this," Dom stated," and… I'm not hungry anymore."

"Me neither… I wanted ribs man. Least we can get with the mission, right?" Cole asked about, as the five stirred, dazed and confused.

"I… had the weirdest dream," the chief stated as the turned and moved on with their mission.

Inside the hollows, as the queen patrolled and reconsidered her plans for the future against the humans, she stepped on the books given to her by the attacking humans. Being the greatest insult to injury, she kicked it aside, and strolled out of the hall and out of sight. Once she left, General RAAM appeared from the shadows. Walking quickly over to the books, he bent down, and picked on up. Opening to the pages, he began to read.

"What a good story," RAAM said very uncharacteristically as he collected the others, and walked off, reading them religiously.

* * *

So this is my gift to all of you, fan service and massive random references tied in with ridiculous ideas. I hope I didn't fuck up- after all a Christmas gift is something to cherish… but who knows.

Anyway, I was tied up, as this should have been released several days previous, but of all things for a Christmas week to interrupt me, I had a funeral to attend in Massachusetts. Death it seems makes no quarters, even for holidays. My condolences to the family again I had to visit, and a very heartfelt and Merry Christmas, and happy new year to you readers!

And for those of you who care, there will be a similar chapter to be released for HSWC. Not as action oriented, but certainly random and crazy.

EZB

P.S. Nope. No death this time. My own Christmas gift onto myself. But if you want, I'll challenged you readers to come up with the most funny, random, and entertaining death possible. Put it in a review, and if I like it, I'll put it up on my next MoW:U chapter, or at least use the idea!

Happy Holidays!


	7. Into a Tunnel, Darkly

The most recent events of Stonewall Canals still brimmed with evidence of the bloodshed. Locust grubs still bled, very much dead, their thick dark blood down the flow of the stream of water. What remained of the three primary bridges and the stashes of weapons and munitions had been scoured, lightly, by the victors of the battle. The bodies had been left for the crows and birds, one particularly mutilated victim's exploded head being picked apart by two avian competitors.

The birds then squawked and soared away, as a grub carefully stepped over the body. He was the first in a scouting group sent to discover what had happened to the communications with the small outpost. Once a terrible force to be reckoned with, the Stonewall outpost had become weaker, particularly after the recent events with the Lightmass bomb drop. The soldiers had been mostly called back, and only few still remained as continuously stationed surface outposts.

The grub stopped, and knelt, spotting a fresh looking, but broken, Lancer Rifle. As his dark eyes stared at it, he growled, and kicked it over to the water, where it slid to a stop, some of its mechanical guts spilling out. Getting back up, he heard a large step behind him, and stepped quickly aside.

A huge beast of a locust soldier walked past it, heavily decorated and tall as it was muscular. An intricate system of thin webbed spikes assisted the armor it wore, along with a horned helmet that impaled two human skulls. The rest of the armor was similar to that of a superior officer of the Locust, only thicker, heavier, and clearly more used. Scratches and scars spanned across it's figure, showing this beast had gone through more fights than it could count.

It's protected head turned about, looking throughout the area, snarling.

"Gears?" it asked, in a surprisingly clear voice than that of the normal grunt. The one it passed snorted in a response.

"Gears."

"I see," the tall one spat, and bent down, and lifted the nearly headless soldier up past his height with one arm. "They will suffer. Our queen wills it!"

"For the queen!" several other voices behind the first grub shouted along with him.

"Yes… they will pay. They will find… Corpsers." this superior locust walked past the others, and they all snarled and followed him obediently. The first to arrive, now last in the line marching away, grinned his lipless grin, savagely content with what was coming to those who attacked the base. Although they were tough, they probably could not face a Corpser, let alone several at once.

* * *

"You know, I've been thinking," Baird piped up after several minutes of walking in silence away from the canals.

"I like it better when you think, not talk," Marcus quickly interjected.

"Funny. I was thinking about the canals. Did… am I the only one who thinks that it was a little too easy for us?" Baird asked out loud.

"Nah," said Dom and Mark.

"Nope," said Taylor and Cole.

"I wouldn't call it 'difficult'," voiced Cortana," but it wasn't easy."

"What?" Baird turned to the others, astounded at his apparently lone speculations. "It was stonewall canals! In comparison to just about any other local Locust joint, we should have had no hopes!"

"We got the jump on them, we used the surprised to our advantages, and we had a… decent number," Dom tried explaining, getting a little mixed up with the ending, as he had glanced at the master chief, walking at the back.

Behind the two stranded kids by several feet, the chief wasn't listening as much to the conversation as he was silently scanning the surroundings and thinking to himself. Within several hours the day had been a total surprise to the chief in many, many ways. For starters, he had come across a batch of humans who had not heard of earth, or the UNSC. Those two alone would have unnerved any member of the UNSC.

But there is also a war with these people that had nothing to do with the covenant, the flood, or even the humans of the UNSC. Cortana had dismissed it, but was it possible this place really had developed separately than Earth? It seemed like the evidence constantly pointed to the possibility. The Stranded, cogs, locust… this world was unlike anything the Chief had heard of.

But then again, after the events on the Ark, who knew where he really was. And it didn't matter. To the Spartan, as long as he had strength to fight, he would; as long as he needed to help friendly humans, he would. There was nothing simpler in his mind to decide than that.

"You know," Dom whispered to Marcus, creeping a little ahead of the group with his best friend," he's weirding me out."

"The kid, Mark?" Marcus asked quietly.

"No, the Spartan guy," Dom said. "It's just… were the hell did he come from? Wouldn't have command have told us when they sent a freakin' super soldier robot to help us out?"

"I know," Marucs glanced back to the super soldier in question, who was looking away, staring at buildings as they walked down the street," but I don't think he's with us."

"Wait, with Gears?"

"Or the coalition."

"But… where else is there?" Dom asked.

"Well, maybe he was something the other governments were working on… I don't know, and we really shouldn't care. He's kicked ass for us enough to consider him…" Marcus couldn't decide what to consider him. As he was easy for the two kids, who were honest and he understood their background, this Spartan he couldn't. Was he an ally? An accomplice? Just another soldier with the same intent?

"I couldn't help but overhear," Mark suddenly slid next to the two," about the cyborg."

"What?" Dom asked innocently. They hadn't said anything about cyborgs.

"Well, you should be careful what you think about him, because he is from space after all."

"And you say that, why?" Marcus challenged his words.

"Because-"

"Actually," Baird interjected, as he and Cole suddenly appeared directly behind the others," I think he's right about that one."

"What? Why?" Marcus asked.

"It's too much of a coincidence for something to come falling out of the sky, from nowhere, and suddenly crash onto our planet, and suddenly he shows up. We don't recognize anything he's telling us, like places and stuff, and his armor and size… he really could be an alien!"

"Are… are they having a group meeting?" Taylor asked, his eyebrow raised as he watched the group of five ahead of him huddle in thought.

"Eh, I could care less," Hank stated, adjusting his hat, which had been signed by the Cole train, his now most prized possession. "Gears can have their own talks. As long as they don't decide to kick us out, ya know?"

"Uh, sure," Taylor said, unsure as how to respond," sure, I get you."

"I bet it's about-" Eric did a jerk with his head backwards, indicating the Spartan," and where he's from."

"Eh, space," Taylor stated easily.

"Oh. Just, like, outer space?" Eric asked.

"Yup. That simple. I mean, I'm sure he's from somewhere, like a planet."

"That would be Earth," The voice of Cortana replied, catching the group off guard. As they jumped and turned their heads to the chief, he too turned to them, staring back at them.

"What?" he asked.

"So you carry her around? Like a computer?" Howard questioned, quickest to recover from their conspiracy interruption.

"If by super-advanced artificial intelligence that monitors his surrounds and designs and lays objects for him to do, then yes, I am his personal computer assistant," Cortana laid out. While Howards eyes faded out of focus half way through her words, the others followed, though just barely.

"Huh. That's fascinating," Howard tried to feign understanding.

"Never heard of anything that complicated," Carey stated.

"Well, from what I understand, or have observed, the closest thing to artificial intelligence is that cloaked robot hovering near the sergeants," she noted. Carey whipped his head towards the front group, and the stranded duo gasped.

"We have a Jack on us?" Taylor wondered. "Nice. That'll come in handy if… well, for a lot of things."

"You forgot to mention that one, Cortana," The chief reminded her.

"And here I thought you were all eyes and ears. On your visor, there's the additional signature, right?" The chief's hidden eyes darted to the section of his visor she spoke about, and indeed spotted the extra signal. "Well, scanning it for just a millisecond or two revealed it was mostly metal and circuitry, along with a few tools, a welding kit included."

"That could be nice," the chief added.

"So, you two sorta work together?" Taylor asked.

"More or less," the chief answered, again scanning the surroundings.

"Partners?"

"He watches me," Cortana answered this time," and I watch his back."

"Ohhhh, I getcha," Taylor smiled and snickered, having the chief pause and stare at him.

"What's the giggles for?" he asked.

"Nothing, man," Taylor grinned as he spoke. Just as the chief was about to inquire further, he paused and turned to his right. Several small stones fell from the roofs onto piles of rubble. The others turned as well, watching carefully.

"It was nothing," Baird quickly assessed, and they continued, except for Marcus and the chief. A moment passed before Marcus turned and glanced to the chief, who glanced back.

Perhaps it was an unspoken and almost psychic message that passed between the two of them, even without the total eye contact. But both knew that after that moment passed, it wasn't 'nothing'. One instinct telling you big things were coming might be dismissible, but two? Both felt a bit more ready for their weapons to be out.

"I'll keep scanning the area," Cortana was onto the quickly passed subluminal communication.

"So, number Eighty-three," Taylor walked up to the much taller man, and nudged his arm," what's it feel like to be the most famous bastard the cogs have fighting for 'em?"

"You kiddin' me?" Coles grin was unmatched in sheer joy, as if his life had been waiting for the question," It's goddamn fantastic, man!"

"I know it's been a while since you played, but can I ask a little 'bout the games?" Taylor pressed, excitement in his eyes.

"Fire away," Cole said.

"Sweet! Was the fight thing between you and 46 legit?" he asked quickly. At this Baird snorted.

"No," he said.

"It was real, man," Cole assured him.

"No it wasn't!" Baird said aloud again. "You two had a thing going, but it wasn't 'real'!"

"That's cus we kept it professional!" Cole answered. "Otherwise we woulda tried to gut the other in the parking lot."

As the group chat around the famous individual continued, Marcus continued his look about. His senses continued to tell him to run, or at least get a start on it, because he was damn nervous. And he wouldn't pinpoint why.

"You feel it?" a voice had Marcus turn to his left, where the Spartan had moved to, staring down the curving street.

"Feel what?"

"Something's coming," the chief re-stated.

"It's just paranoia. Some pebbles fell, and now I think everywhere some grubs are going to jump out and eat my face."

"Maybe. I don't think it's the soldiers though," the Spartan stated. And with that, he turned, and stared back the long path they had taken from the canals.

"And then he- hey, Marcus, wassup?" Cole noticed the disappearance of his commanding officer, and turned, spotting him, and the mysterious Spartan past him, both staring off. "What ch'all looking at?"

"I dunno," Marcus started," but I think we should hurry."

"What's up?" Baird asked.

"Just a feeling. But it makes me want to go a bit faster."

"I'm down with that. Walking out in the open never was a bright idea anyway," Dom replied.

"Alright then," Mark stated, turning to his three," let's hurry it up then."

Minutes passed as the group hustled down the street. Occasionally they took a moment and chatted, their endurance capable enough to not be winded while running. Only the kids seemed to struggle. If asked a question, they took a moment and wheezed out only a few select words to respond with.

"Never been to this side of the city before," Eric said, as he peered about the broken street. "I always thought it would look different."

"It might have," Baird said, catching Eric's attention," but with grubs shitting all over the place, it's all a great big piece of crap now."

"This piece of crap," Dom said quietly to Baird, as Eric scowled at his comment," is their home."

"So?" Baird retorted," they know that."

"Doesn't mean you aught to rub that in their face," Dom continued firmly.

"Fine, whatever," Baird sighed. "No more talk about the shit-stain wastelands."

"Baird, quiet," Marcus ordered quietly.

"I said I'd stop-"

"Shh!" Marcus interrupted Baird, and he turned to the others, his eyes on the ground. The Chief was the last to stop and turn. Marcus's eyes were fixed on a small piece of debris on the ground. It was quivering lightly, moving in the vibrations now evident.

"What… what is it?" Frank asked as he spun about.

"Something… big," Cortana announced. "I think running would be a good idea."

"Lets move!" Marcus roared, and the eleven bolted down the street. Just a few moments after they left, the ground split and cracked apart. Hard concrete began to fall away and underneath the surface. Turning back once, the Chief spotted something huge pushing its way out of the ruined street.

"What the hell is that!?" Cortana demanded, spotting a limb crawl its way out as the group turned down a street, at Eric and Franks direction.

"What did it look like!?" Dom shouted, and then there was a guttural, bellowing screech.

"It's a Corpser!" Baird screamed as they ran. Only the chief had a chance to see the destruction behind them, turning and running in place, backwards.

The Corpser looked to be a massive insect or arachnid creature, with several large armored limbs protruding from its side and back. The legs began to pull the large creature above the ruins, occasionally collapsing a structure, having large dust clouds billow out. He got a glimpse of the creatures head, hidden behind the large legs. It was bulbous and round, sporting a mouth of jagged, pin-like teeth. It had many eyes on either side of it's head, each black and pit-less.

"And we thought Scarabs were big," Cortana stated as the chief turned back and led the charge down the street.

"There!" Eric announced, pointing to yet, another turn in the street. To where he pointed was an empty canal, covered in vines and weeds and rusted wire fences. But distinctly past it was a massive black entrance to a sewer system. To get there though was easier said than done as the street was littered with broken vehicles.

"Let's go!" Mark shouted, diving over a destroyed car. They group split apart, finding the best available cracks to slide between. As they did, Baird spun around, and spotted the Corpser advancing onto them, climbing over the building.

"Well this isn't fair!" he said, and chased after Marcus.

"Shoot at the damn thing!" Mark ordered as he spun and took a few shots at the enclosing beast. The two stranded kids slid under a car, leading the way through the wreckage.

"Just keep going," Dom called back to Mark and his squad, now across the street," we can't fight this sucker like this!"

"Hey! Wait!" Marcus shouted. The younger stranded hadn't realized their bulkier companions struggle through the mass wreckage. They were pulling ahead, and as the giant Corpser moved in on the street, knocking over a large wall.

"Come on!" Eric shouted behind himself, as he and Frank made it past the wreckage. They spotted the Corpser, and both began to shoot at the creature. This did little but distract the creature momentarily, as it was eyeing the newbie crew, moving about behind them, hissing and chattering through its crooked teeth.

As it slowly lowered itself closer, the Chief darted up from the center of the wreckage, and with his newly acquired Cog Lancer rifle up and ready. Landing just behind the group, he strafed backwards, keeping with their pace as he fired at the monster behind them, attempting to graze the face. The Corpser was struck once or twice in the targeted region, and shrieked, pulling its limbs in front and together like a shield.

"Get a move on soldiers," Cortana suggested as the chief hurried past them easily, his height and bio-enhanced muscles giving him a speed advantage.

"We're on it!" Taylor shouted, turning only once to double check to Corpser's momentary pause.

As the two groups collected by the rusted fence, the two stranded stepped past a fallen section. The sewer system was easily a fifty degree angle drop, but the two younger men were not shaken by the angles. Still leading the charge, the slid down the mostly intact side, and motioned for the others to follow.

"Okay, that was a little fun," Baird admitted as he stood up.

"Let's get a move on!" Marcus stated once the chief leapt from the fifty foot drop up above, and they heard the cries of the Corpser getting closer.

"Wait," Mark shouted before they could move again," we can fight it here! We're in the open!"

"Do we have the time to kill one of these guys!?" Marcus barked back.

"We've done it before," Dom argued.

"It's worth a shot!" Howard added, stepping closer, and checking his weapons.

"Alright, lets split into three," Marcus ordered," Agron, take your squad just up the canal; we'll provide an opening, then flank it!"

"What are we supposed to do!?" Eric shouted as Marcus and his squad stepped away from the shaking wall.

"Stay out of the way, and help piss it off!" Marcus shouted quickly. "Here it comes!" He shouted, but as the shaking stopped and a loud hiss screamed through the air, they did not find a Corpser above them.

"Chief," Cortana said quietly to him," I don't think this thing is alone," she said, and the Chief spun around. Another Corpser had appeared from the other side of the sewer system.

"Behind us!" Eric noticed first after the Chief, and caught the attention of both Squads. As they turned and spotted the newcomer monster, the old one appeared, growling hungrily as it peered down at them. "Oh god, there's two of them!"

"They got tactics now?!" Dom shouted angrily, spinning back and forth to keep a watch on both creatures.

"Anya said the tunnel system in the sewers was were to go, right?" Marcus thought out loud.

"There we can fight these guys one at a time!" The Chief agreed, beginning to pace backwards, moving towards the massive hole that lead into the depths of the sewer system.

"Or collapse the entrance!" Mark shouted an idea. Marcus and the Chief exchanged a look, and nodded.

"RUN FOR IT!" Marcus screamed as both Corpsers moved for the kill, and the eleven men took off. "Get some grenades up on the sides of the wall!" Marcus said as Alpha squad was getting to the sewers quicker, having generally faster running soldiers. The Chief too arrived, and took several of the grenades he looted from the earlier battle, and lined them higher up on the walls, and as he leapt, then kicked off the sides of the wall, onto the ceiling.

"Watch out," he warned as he almost landed on Frank, who gasped and stumbled aside. "Here, get these on the wall," he said, handing him two more standard issue cog grenades, and then running back into the light.

"Wha-Chief!" Frank shouted as the Chief stood outside, the rifle raised and ready.

"This isn't one of your brighter ideas, you know that?" Cortana said, a tone of worry in her voice. He ignored her, and began shooting at the incoming Corpsers, using burst-fire to increase the already limited accuracy on the Lancer rifle. Even so, he did what he intended. Delta squad, almost having the two Corpsers bear directly down on them, were bought just enough time to peel ahead.

"Get inside, and blow the fucking entrance up!" Marcus shouted to Baird as they passed the still shooting Chief. As they ran past him, he again slowly retreated back, switching between the two beasts, trying to get the seemingly vulnerable heads of the spider-monsters. But as they were less than fifty meters feet from him, he turned, and charged inside, zooming past Baird as he set up a charge.

"Fire in the hole!" Baird roared as he covered his ears and ran after the chief," COVER YOUR EARS!" he shouted at the others, still running deeper inside the dark tunnels.

The explosion was a quick succession of blasts, but too quick for the average human to individually detect. The force threw the closest ones off their feet and further inside, while just knocking down those in front. All but the chief collapsed, their hands glued to the sides of their heads. The chief turned, spotting the collapsing entrance the sealed away the attacking Corpsers. As the echoing boom faded, he could still hear them trying to pry away the thick rubble. But it was pitch black, and without a second thought, his visor lights flickered on.

"Is everyone okay?" the Spartan turned and asked to the others, still recovering.

"Well, aside from feeling like every bone and muscle in my body is numb to the touch," Baird began complaining almost instantly.

"We're fine," Dom assured the Chief.

"Just check each other for any signs of deafness," Cortana added as the Chief walked past the others, looking down the very large circular tunnel.

"I can't hear Baird's bullshit," Taylor said," or is that me just getting used to him?"

"Speaking of bullshit," Mark added, holding a hand to his nose," anyone else smell that?!"

"Yup," Marcus said grimly," and we have a long way to walk through this place. Get used to it."

"Anyone have flares?!" Baird asked, trying to look about, but running into Cole.

"Here," Carey handed him one after lighting one of his own.

"Thanks," Baird said, and quickly lit his and held it up above. The red light cast from both flares filled the tunnel a good two hundred feet, but the distance before was still obscured in darkness. "Great. Well, at least it doesn't smell as bad as the waste processing plant."

"How many of those do we have?" Marcus asked, turning back to the group.

"I have more," Carey announced.

"Keep them on you for now," Marcus said.

"We only need two," Mark agreed, and Carey nodded.

"So, can we get moving before they get inside?" Eric asked urgently, creeping towards the darkness, staring uneasily at the debris," or before the entire place comes crashing in?"

"Okay," Mark said, moving towards the stranded," do we have any idea if this place is supposed to have turns, or branches off?"

"We're heading… west?"

"The Chief will lead then," Cortana announced to the group," unless one of you boy scouts wants to get a compass out in the dark?"

* * *

Hmm. Yes. It has been a while, hasn't it? Yes, indeed. But… I am back! WOOHOO!

So, a lot has happened since the last time we all met, hasn't it? Unless you also read Hellsing War Chronicles, and if that's the case, then you are well aware of my return. But two more Gears of War games came out, a whole new Halo is out now, and boy am I behind the times with both. XD

Regardless, nothing will be deviated from the original plans of Men of War. So if you remember what happened in the original, you won't be disappointed. :-)

I know this is a shorter read than the others, but I have to ease into this. Hell, I almost rushed myself to get this chapter completed, and online ASAP, just to let people know I'm coming back online.

En, but enough about me. What about- (Master of the Boot appears behind EZB)

Boot: SURPRISE MUTHA-FUCKA.

Holy shit! Wow… how… did you get into my room?

Boot: Oh. The doggy door.

Oh. I don't have a doggy door... or a dog… or pet, for that matter.

Boot: Well, you do now. (Stares menacingly at EZB)

You're here to kill me in a random fashion, aren't you?

Boot: Oh, no. That's what my wife is here for, actually. GET'EM! (EZB turns and sees a distortion in the computer, and a woman materializes out from it, a bloodcurdling scream announcing her attack. EZB screams like a wuss and is mutilated with machetes, knives, and other pointy things)

Expect more at the end of the week, so see you guys later!


	8. Wings in the Dark

The regional sewer systems had been neglected long before even the Locust arrival. Understaffed and the staffed underpaid, the tunnels had many issues long before humans had been, for the most part, wiped out from the area. Now, tunnels like the ones Alpha Squad and Delta Squad moved quietly through served as tales of Locust activity. As an enemy that uses tunneling system to move between battles, systems like these could serve as highways, quickly allowing the troops to move between long distances.

This idea, or fear, gave the eleven reason to play it quiet.

"We are so lucky there isn't a gas pocket around here," Baird said in hushed tones.

"That's not likely, is it?" Taylor asked with wide eyes, vey aware of the heat of the flares.

"I dunno! If some shit came around here recently and blew a gas line that was intact-"

"No, it's not likely," Marcus announced firmly.

"Okay man. But the second we all get blown back to the entrance 'cus someone got to close to leaking gas… I'll have told you so," Baird said quickly and let himself be quiet again.

The group had been moving in near silence since they had gotten past the Corpses, some thirty minutes ago. But only the Chief knew that. The others, mostly the two stranded, were uncertain as to how much time had really passed, especially with no overhead sky to peer at. The Spartan's personal universal timer had reset itself to the planet's basic time, and he was keeping track as they all continued down the dark recesses.

"I hate this sort of thing," Cole said quietly after a few minutes had passed. "Got nothing to do."

"For all we know, there could be a swarm of Grubs waiting for us someone up ahead," Mark added.

"I'm starting to feel like that'd be a nice switch, man," Cole said with longing. Mark and Taylor chuckled quietly.

"So…" Taylor started, sounding unsure," what's the craziest thing you've even done with the cogs?" he asked to Cole.

"Oh man, don't ask him that," Baird groaned, as Cole's face grew a smile that could wrap around his head.

"Where to begin!" Cole announced happily.

"Wasn't there a law signed announcing you couldn't ask Cole to talk about his achievements?" Dom joked lightly.

"Hell no!" Cole laughed, his booming voice echoing down the tunnels. The group all paused, eyes wide and scanning the darkness. The echoing grew fainter and fainter until it was unable to be heard, and looked at one another.

"Cole, you gonna promise me you won't be that loud?" Marcus said quietly.

"Yessir!" Cole saluted jokingly.

"Good. You can keep tell 'em whatever you want."

"Right. You wanted to know-"

"You sure letting him run on is a good idea?" The Chief asked quietly as Cole began his wild and crazy stories.

"Can't hurt any more than it could have already," Dom said.

"If it keeps the newbies in check," Marcus reasoned," I could care less; as long as he isn't shouting every time."

"I have to ask," Cortana's voice suddenly popped into the conversation," what kind of natural predatory animals your planet has?" Dom and Marcus exchanged a look with one another and became slightly more observant of the darkness. "Your reactions don't comfort me."

"Most of the animals that can't fight for themselves are dead or in hiding. With that, there's only one kind we're looking for. And god help us if we find them," Marcus said darkly.

"Kryll," Dom said to the Chief.

"What?!" Baird heard the word and ducked down, his eyes zipping around for any sight of the beasts. The others, entranced with a story from Cole, also heard and followed suit. The Chief turned and saw this instinctual reaction, and turned forward.

"Just explaining them to the big guy," Dom announced after a tense moment passed.

"Fuck!" Frank said," I almost shit myself there!"

"What exactly are Kyrll?" Cortana asked, worry evident in her digital voice.

"They… uh…" Marcus had trouble explaining in context.

"Evil?" Dom tried.

"It's a start," Marcus said," they fly, they've got black skin, uh-"

"Kyrll are subterranean animals that live in the crust of this planet; they swarm prey in huge numbers and will not stop until they have teared you apart limb from limb and left nothing remaining," Baird summarized strongly. "If they're in here, we are dead."

"They don't like light, either!" Eric added from the back with a grin. He retreated after a glare from Baird.

"Yeah, they're extremely sensitive to prolonged light exposure, and Ultraviolet will cook them alive instantly," Baird continued," but these flares wouldn't be enough. Everyone would have to have one out and up to keep them away from us."

"Interesting," Cortana stated," so this is why you all are terrified of the underground."

"Kryll? That's just one of many reasons to avoid going underground," Baird began to rant," aside from unstable tunneling, Imulsion eruptions, getting lost, and… what was that last one?"

"Baird," Marcus sighed.

"Oh right, the entire Locust army," Baird finalized his seething distaste for the underground. "Last time we were anyplace like this…"

"We're just under the city," Marcus added quickly," not miles underground."

"Still, isn't a good idea being down here," Baird argued.

"Better than a few Corpsers," Dom said grimly.

"Corpsers," Cortana asked," what are they?"

"You saw 'em," Baird turned to the Chief," just what you saw out there. Big-ass mean bugs."

"I'm quite shocked they havn't managed to find a way inside the tunnels yet," Cortana admitted.

"Walls here should be thick enough," Howard added from the back, catching on the conversation," after all, this is the main line."

"Hold up," Mark said, looking ahead into the darkness," Carey, lift your light a little bit," he said quietly as the group came to halt. The sniper did so, and the light traveled slightly more, revealing more of what he saw.

There was a set of small stairs leading into the wall, where a rusted door stood. A similarly rusted sign lay on the ground, supposedly having fallen off a long time ago. Mark attempted to step closer, but Marcus intervened, moving just into his path.

"We should check inside," Mark stated.

"There could be some nasty shit in there," Marcus said worriedly," what do you hope you'll find?"

"Something to drink?" Mark said, and moved around Marcus. The experienced soldier did not try to block him this time, and followed suit, moving closer to the door. "They might have something in here to munch on," Mark reasoned to the rest.

Mark reached the metal steps, and placed an uneasy foot on the first step. It groaned slightly as he pushed himself up and onto the next one. The unkempt railing on either side shook and rattled as he got to the door, and pushed it aside, his gun forward. He slowly stepped inside, and checked his sorroundings.

"Clear," he called from inside, and Dom was first to follow suit.

"Stay out here, keep watch," Marcus ordered to the others as he followed Dom. He leapt up the first few steps and walked inside, where Dom was trying to find a light switch.

"Somewhere on this wall-"

"Probably isn't even any power," Marcus reminded him.

"Just in case- found it!" Dom cheered as he fumbled in the dark and flipped a large lever.

"That's a big power switch," Mark added, and looked towards the light bulb above him. It remained dark. "Damn it."

"Well, it was worth a shot," Dom shrugged, and reached for one of his own flares, and lifted it up, cracking it and letting bright red light flood the space. They were in a maintenance area, with several cabinets and work benches filled with old and dusty mechanical parts.

"There's another door," Mark spotted the door, and slowly opened it. The red light cast inside, revealing a break room. "Bingo," he spotted several cabinets, where overturned and broken coffee mugs stood, abandoned, "there should be something here."

"Let's see what we have in here," Dom asked as he stepped inside, Marcus staying in the doorway. As Mark scavenged around for food and drink, tossing some old water bottles to the ground that were intact, Dom moved to the side, spotting another doorframe.

"What is it?" Marcus asked to Dom.

"I dunno," he shrugged, and tried budging the door. It stayed shut. "I think it's jammed, or locked!" he growled, and he slammed his shoulder against it and pushed.

"Gross chips, rotting granola, crappy instant-coffee, several old holo-tapes of "HSWC", one through seven," he tossed several old looking holo-disks to the ground," and some more water."

"Give me some of them," Marcus said and stepped over the spilled holo-tapes," I'll give em to the guys."

"Here," Mark tossed him a packet of fifteen bottles at him. With a nod, Marcus turned away and headed for the sewer again. "I wonder if there's any candy…" Marcus heard Mark said with wonder, and he then heard several more of the cabinets fly open.

"Heads up," Marcus said as he got to the stairs, having opened the plastic wrap," and catch," he started tossing them to the others.

"Just water?" Taylor asked, but none the less sprayed himself lightly with his water, before drowning the entire bottle.

"Better bottled than running water," Eric said darkly. "Bottled water is almost currency back home."

"Well, we aren't at a Stranded joint, are we?" Baird said as he poured most of his water on his head," ohh that feels nice."

"Baird, chill." Marcus said, taking a sip of his own.

"I wansn't-" Marcus gave the blonde a look," Fine, whatever." Marcus nodded, and realized they were one giant robot man short.

"Where'd the big guy go?"

"Me?" Cole asked, but as he turned, he realized the man in green armor had vanished. "Oh shit, is he sneaky or what!?"

"Uh," Marcus was uncertain of himself, but none the less, he placed his hand at his communicator, and spoke," Master Chief, Cortana, come in."

"We read you," Cortana responded over the device.

"Just where did you two get to?" Marcus asked.

"We're scouting slightly ahead, about two hundred meters. There's a hole we might want to be worried about," she announced," it reaches to the surface."

"Great… anything else?" Marcus asked, but before Cortana could respond, there was a loud bang, and he spun, his gun ready. Lights began to flood the sewer accompanied by a whirring of gears. Inside the mechanics room, several puffs of black smoke billowed towards Marcus, who leapt down the stairs.

"What's going on in there!?" Marcus called. Mark came running round, fanning the air around him, Dom in tow.

"I think I accidentally pulled the power breaker," Dom admitted. Indeed, behind them, lights were flickering on. Then the lights in the sewers spread, and moved out, a small fluorescent light on either side of the sewers blinking to life.

"Well, at least we can see better," Howard smiled and nodded.

"I have sights on you back there," Cortana announced. Indeed, a good distance ahead, where there had been darkness briefly, the Chief stood out, standing by a large hole in the floor and ceiling. Only a few moments after the lights had come to life, the entire system gave away. Every wall-hanging source of light died, plunging the sewers in almost total darkness yet again.

"Well, it was good while it lasted," Howard said with a sigh. There was another bang. Dom, who had been standing on the metal stairs, turned to peer inside the room, where the bang had come from.

"That didn't sound like the last one," Frank said worriedly, his gun up and loaded. Then it happened again, there was another bang. And there was a loud snarl, and the sound of something clawing at metal.

"That's our cue to go," Marcus quickly decided, and started running off. The others followed, and they grew closer to the chief after half a minute of jogging.

"I don't think you guys can all make it over at once," The Chief admitted, looking at the deep hole before them. It was wide enough to take up a majority of the flooring, except for the side they were one, where a slim bit of the floor remained.

"You first chief," Eric said quickly, and the Chief leapt easily over the twenty foot gap to the other side," oh."

"Let's go, one at a time!" Marcus ordered, and began stepping to his side, his back against the curved wall. The others followed pursuit, keeping an eye on the black abyssal depths before them, and occasionally looking up to bright skies above them. Dom was last, letting the others go before him. As he turned and started to cross, he turned back, and heard a roar.

"Whatever was in there is coming after us!" he shouted, and shuffled quickly after them. Once he had crossed, they all turned, their weapons raised and ready to open fire. Whatever made the sound seemed to have friends, as there were many steps running towards them.

"Wait for it!" Mark said, as they all held their breath, watching for moving shadows. But then there was a shriek. The steps of the animals, or whatever they were, seemed to grow faint. They were moving away.

"What… what happened?" Eric asked quietly.

"I don't know," Howard asked, his eyes scanning around the area.

"Let's keep going," Marcus suggested," until we figure out-"

"Wait," the Chief said firmly, holding a hand up to them.

"What? What is it, big guy?" Taylor asked quietly. The chief didn't respond, instead listening carefully. He was sure he felt something, as he did earlier, with the Corpsers.

"We should get going," Marcus said more urgently.

"Something's coming," the Chief said, staring back to where they had been.

"So let's move!" Marcus ordered, and turned away, running down the sewer. They all followed suit, the Chief staying behind, watching the broken section of tunnel behind him as he waited. He wasn't sure what it was, but something was coming. And it seemed huge.

"Oh god, what's that?!" Mark asked, as there was a new sound. It was consistent and rumbling, yet sounded light and airy. Dom gasped.

"Oh fuck!" Baird roared and ran faster than he had been. "Please don't be Kryll!"

"But- but it's not night time!" Frank shouted as the group simultaneously ran faster.

"Does it look like it's daytime in here!?" Baird yelled.

"Get some more flares up!" Marcus shouted, as he turned around with the others. From the tunnel, it seemed the light of the sun had gone at such an angle that it no longer poured into the darkness. The residual light was enough though for them to see a huge swarm of animals, each a foot or so in size, fly out and pour into the tunnels.

"RUN FOR IT!" Mark screamed, and each held a torch, except the Chief. The Spartan darted quickly ahead of the group, and stopped, turned, and opened fire on the swarm of fliers. The bullets killed many of the beasts, but the flashes of flame ejecting from the gun kept even more from swarming him and flying past the group, and their ten flares. Again and again he fired at the Kryll. And there was a series of clicks. He ran out, and the Kryll saw the lack of light, and a moving prey.

"Here!" Marcus tossed the Chief his gun as he passed, and the chief turned, running with him momentarily.

"How long do the flares expect to last?" Cortana inquired urgently to the gears.

"An hour!" Baird shouted.

"But if you let Kryll get too near you they won't mind the light as much if they can get a bite out of you. And they'll follow the shadows, so we have to keep moving!" Marcus added, and slid to a stop, as the chief had done. The Sewer sudden dropped, and became a forty degree slide down.

"Shit!" Dom cursed as he almost ran into the others. But the Eric ran into him, and Howard ran into Eric, and the Cole Train ran into everybody who had tried to stop, save for the chief, who had stepped aside. The group slid, and began sliding down the wet ground, rolling through muck and drainage.

"This is too gross to be fun!" Baird shouted as Eric and Frank both involuntarily whooped and shouted with excitement. The Chief was sliding on his feet behind the group. The tunnel turned again, and again, with more drains emptying themselves into the main current.

"Oh shit!" Marcus spotted another drop, but much steeper this time. "Watch out!"

It was a waterfall that emptied out of a sheer drop. And each of the men screamed as they plummeted further into the dark. They were falling through water and cold air without light. They only heard the slapping of water falling into more water, each others screams, and the distant predators in the sewers.

Marcus felt it coming, and he heard the surface before he felt it. He hit the deep water first with a loud splash and sunk deep within. It was far down enough that the fall hadn't hurt him seriously, but his armor and weapons were weighing him down. He tossed his rifle to the side, and struggled to the surface, where he found the others, doing the same.

"Oh shit," Cole said, spitting water from his mouth," the hell are we at?"

"Ahead!" Carey pointed ahead, as the current pushed them further and further down and towards a bright light.

"Is that outside?" Baird gasped, and then cheered, along with the others. "I love finding out our sewage was just dumped into a river."

"Wait… chief!?" Dom shouted aloud, not spotting the Spartan.

"Here!" Master Chief shouted. He was on a bank next to the subterranean river, running towards the light. "Swim faster!"

"What!?" Mark asked, and gasped, looking upwards. The Kryll, still obscured in the darkness were now filling up the large space above them. The floating men all stared at the coming death, and yelled in panic.

"SWIM FOR IT!" Marcus bellowed as he stroked for his life. The light wasn't very far, but without the torches, now deep in the water and put out, the Kryll could, once they were closer, rip them to pieces.

Dom was swimming the fastest, passing Marcus with grace and speed that his old friend was shocked to see him have. He was the first into the light of the outside, and once he felt the warm rays of the sun, he turned, and waved for the others to follow.

"You guys are almost there!" He shouted, spotted the now apparently natural river's bank, and the Chief, and start swimming for him. "Come on Cole!"

"I'm- I'm coming!" Cole wheezed as he was the furthest behind. "Shit!" he shouted as he turned and spotted the Kryll flying closer.

"Shit, come on, Cole!" Marcus said, keeping himself afloat as he watched from the water as Cole struggled to swim faster. He clearly wasn't made for swimming, as it looked like he had no idea how to move any faster in the water.

The Chief had seen enough, and stepped inside the Darkness, his Lancer Rifle raised. Just a few moments before Cole would have had his head chewed off, the Chief drew their attention, running further in while firing his new clip of ammunition. This drew away the Kyrll and brought their attention to him, and a moment after Cole swam into sunlight, the Chief was surrounded by Kyrll.

"Chief!" Taylor shouted in panic.

It seemed though there had been more of a plan in the Spartans actions that martyrdom. As each Kyrll attempted to bite him, they struck his personal shields, which trembled and let off a flash of light. Each of these bursts of small light frightened away the Kyrll. With the group of animals parting momentarily, the Chief found his bearings, and ran for the light. The Kyrll couldn't get a single bite into his armor, each time being frightened away by the shields light, all the way until he emerged, intact, and dry.

"How… how did you manage to jump over the river!?" Dom asked, shaking off the water in his hear with his hand.

"I saw where you all fell away, and just jumped at the right time," he admitted.

"I… I wish I could do that," Eric said, climbing on shore with the others. Once they had pulled Cole onto dry land, where he kissed a nearby rock for being on dry ground, they each began to stand and assessed their surroundings. They were past the cities boundaries, and into the overgrown wilds. They were by one of the walls of the cities, looking out at forest and large river.

"So… we made it out of the sewers," Eric said," Told you we could get you there," he said happily.

"Don't remind me where we went," Baird said, patting the side of his head roughly. "I still think I have a turd in my ear…"

"Anya!" Marcus called out loud, his hand at his ear. "Anya, do you read?"

"I hear you Marcus. Are you clear from the Sewers?" the woman's voice called back to the two groups, and the Chief's helmet.

"We… yeah, we're clear," Marcus said," we're looking for directions. Where's out target?"

"Target is three clicks to the north-west, from your position-"

"You ladies sure took your time inside," a stern voice called in, clearly being the Colonel," I hope you're ready to haul ass to the debris sight."

"We're moving as soon as we can, sir," Marcus replied firmly," I don't see why we need to run some more."

"You boys check the time yet? You all have about an hour before dark. I don't have to remind you what exactly goes bump in the night, do I?" Colonel Hoffman said.

"No, you certainly do not," Dom sighed grimly.

"Roger that, sir," Mark added," we're moving now. We'll contact you with more information at our destination. Alpha team out."

"Delta out," Marcus said, and lowered his hand. He turned to the Chief. "So… you have a compass on you?" The Spartan nodded. "Lead the way then, big guy."

* * *

Okay! So they ran like hell through spooky scary tunnels, and BOOM, WATERFALL, whatcha gunna do!?

Sorry I don't have more to talk to you guys about, and for a tad smaller a chapter than usual, but I am really busy with… stuff... yeah, stuff, this week-

(the Green Goblin flies by EZB's Window, and tosses a goblin grenade at him)

OHHH SHEEEEET!

Green Goblin: Youuuurrrrrrr-

(EZB is fried to a skeleton)

Green Goblin: OUTA HEREEE! HAHAHAHA!


	9. Salvage

The high tops of the forest canopy outside of sector Fv-7 rung with the cries of birds. Several pricing shrieks later and many larger avian individuals darting from the leafy cover they perched under, a heavily armored figure appeared, popping up from the canopy like a jack in the box.

"Well I think that beat any expectations they had of the vertical distance you can cover in less than ten seconds," Cortana chuckled as the chief removed a few stray branches snagged on his armor.

"I just want to get moving again," he admitted," lounging around doesn't sit with me."

"Of course," Cortana agreed, "Any sight of the Dawn?" she asked, letting his eyes do the work.

The Chief peered about, scouting for any signs of wreckage. And then he spotted, just to his right, scarred and torn apart woods with twisted metal, and a surprisingly intact half of the Forward Unto Dawn.

"Ahhh, there she is," Cortana sighed," and not too hurt considering."

"It is split in half," the Chief reminded her, to her scoff.

"Please. I've seen things split in half that didn't look half that intact, forgive the pun," Cortana chuckled. The Chief stared at the ship, which seemed to have bounced and crashed in the most convent way for it to remain intact, sliding against the curves of the hill effectively and sliding into a flat, more open area of the forest.

"I hope even half the weapons and vehicles in the armory are still intact," Cortana admitted after a moment as he took in the sight. "So, what are you worried about?"

"This place," the chief stated.

"The forest?"

"The planet," he clarified. While she said nothing, her voice hummed in thought, and had she a face at the moment, her eyes would have been tightened in thought.

"It's been in the back of my mind as well, don't worry… but you usually don't care about things like this. Why ask now?" she pried.

"Not worried right now," he said," we're in the woods, so it'll be harder for them to track us."

"Statistically, as I said before," Cortana began," it is so improbable that not only another species of human existed at the same time as ours did, and same languages, and similar cultural influences, and technologies, with various differences-"

"Those differences being?" the Chief asked.

"They don't seem to have space travel available, to my knowledge. And for another point, they use chainsaws as weapons. I think we outgrew that kind of barbarism a long time ago."

"…I think it's pretty useful…"

"Regardless," she sighed," it is statistically impossible. But here it is, and unless we ended up… in…" he voice trailed off, and the chief tilted his head, trying to catch anything she might add. When she said nothing, he had a moment to plan.

Aside from a few pistols, the group was virtually weaponless. The frantic swim out of the river and into light was one that took away their rifles and shotguns, both figuratively and literally. As some were able to swim faster than others, they had been able to drag their drowned weapons through the water, while the others discarded their primary weapons for the sake of not being devoured by the Kryll. Those who managed to hold onto it only found them useless, the water and drop through the sewers having clogged or damaged the guns in the escape.

Far underneath the chief, the eight men and two teenagers were currently sheltered under a large, very tall tree. Its branches were thick and spaced distantly high above one another and it made a hard climb for anyone, excepting the Chief. He had easily leapt from branch to branch, promising to return with visual signs of the wreckage. Sitting by one particularly thick exposed root, Cole was picking at his finger nails with a knife.

"Careful," Frank said as he spotted Cole on the ground, knife in his hand.

"Don't worry kid, I got it."

"Yeah… but it's a knife," Frank shrugged, as he looked out to the skyline. "I need a gun."

"Here," Cole said, pulling out his gun, and holding it up.

"What?" Frank asked, astounded.

"The Cole train don't need a weapon to kick grub ass, not really," Cole smiled and nodded to the teen. Frank blinked, and smiled enthusiastically as he received his limited edition hand-me-down pistol from Augustus Cole, number eighty-three. Or at least, that's how he, in his mind, sought to tell others what he had gotten.

"Can… can you sign it?" Frank asked timidly.

"This is the tallest tree in the world, or he is having a hellova time spotting that thing," Taylor said, scratching his sweating forehead.

"Maybe he's scared of heights," Dom said.

"He should have thought of that then before leaping up there," Howard commented, looking around the forest.

"Wish he would hurry up, even so," Taylor growled, wiping more sweat that accumulated in his eyebrows. "Would be nice, at least."

"Looks like it'll rain," Frank said, peering through a gap in the tree line.

"Dark clouds?" Dom asked, turning to the direction. There was a low rumbling, and he sighed. "That would do it."

There was a loud creaking as some of the branches at the tops of the tree began to sway, and they all looked up. Aside from several leaves falling in silence, there was nothing to spot immediately.

"Maybe if we play it nice," Baird started to suggest after a moment passed," they'll give us some guns too. The locust, you know?"

"No… no they wont," Eric said quickly.

"That was entirely sarcasm- just forget it," Baird sighed in disappointment.

"We still have some grenades," Taylor pointed out.

"So if we run into baddies," Marcus assured darkly," we better get quick with some explosions, or we pray our pistols can take down grubs."

"Well, the Chief still has his Lancer," Eric pointed out.

"So he can take down an entire group of grubs?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah, actually," Mark put into the conversation," he did… that's how we met up with him." Marcus stared at the man, and then looked upwards, and squinted.

"Incoming gentlemen," Cortana's voice over the intercom announced, and the all looked up. A large green object was falling very fast towards them.

"Shit!" Marcus quickly stepped aside and Cole got up and stepped away, just in time for the Chief to slam into the ground, shaking their feet from underneath them. His armor dug into the light dirt and split apart a nearly uncovered root hidden beneath the ground. As he stood up from his kneeling landing pose, he turned to a semi-frightened Marcus. "You good?" Marcus asked to the Chief, and the Spartan nodded," Good… lead the way."

"Follow the leader, boys," Cortana teased them as the Chief turned away from the tree, and into the plant life. As the group followed, the rumble of thunder became a clap, and the air shook.

"I hate thunderstorms," Marcus groaned.

"Can't hear gunshots, right?" Mark asked.

"Yeah… it makes me nervous," Marcus said as another loud bang of thunder roared through the air, and he glanced around. "Or maybe it's just I think they're explosions now…"

"Well, and then there's the whole 'hit by lightning' part," Dom said darkly. "Not going to say it's more likely than a locust ambush though."

"Damn vines," Baird growled behind him, his leg caught in some thick looking plants.

"Stop dicking around Baird," Marcus said, and Baird huffed loudly.

"I'm not doing anything!" Baird started to shout, but a very close bang of thunder cut off his words from the rest, and he just growled. No sooner had he untangled himself than a low patter around them start. "Well… at least we get a shower."

It began to rain harder the further away from the city limits they traveled. Over various large exposed boulders, long forgotten lumber camps now overgrown, and under several more large trees, they moved towards their supposed goal, far through the forests in the wilds. More than once they spotted a species of animal that was considered extinct, from large species of deer, and several smaller wilds cats, it was a hike through lost nature- something that amused some more than others.

As they came over a large climb, some of the way Baird complaining about not going around the hill, they finally spotted it.

"Damn," Cole said, the first to the top.

"What? Let me see- holy shit…" Baird gasped as he finally saw the Forward Unto Dawn.

"There she is," Cortana announced," UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. What's left of her, and a remarkable landing, considering it's trajectory."

"She's a mess," The Chief added.

He wasn't too wrong. Closer up, there were plenty of splashed areas of metal and earth, where pieces that had ripped themselves off in the fall from space and smashed down. The plate displaying the name of the ship had fallen off during the land, and was laying meters away, facing the sky. However, the majority of the ship remained intact. Despite the area that had been cleanly severed in two when the Ark portal closed, the ship was scorched, and several trails of smoke billowed from pieces of the strewn ship. Where the ship had collapsed, it had caved in and was an impassable mess of metal and machinery.

"So, that's your space ship?" Mark asked. "Are there any more of your people inside?"

"No," Cortana informed him as the Chief slowly made his way down the hill," we had a companion, but as we were separated before arriving. There shouldn't be anyone onboard at this point."

"There were more of you, then?" Dom inquired as they pushed down from trees and the hill.

"More like me or the chief?" Cortana chuckled after answering," there were more of us both. Once, anyway."

"Once? So…Tough times for you two as well. No one gets it easy I guess," Dom said as they continued down the hill.

"Looks like we're about here," Marcus announced after taking a particularly large leap past a mossy boulder. Stepping past the shaded and drier forest, he walked into the rainy clearing. Burning directly before him was a cluster of metal, smoking and hissing in the rain, almost billowing as much steam as smoke.

"I love the smell of burning metal," Carey suddenly said, having a few of the men turn and give him a glance. "It appeals to me, that's all."

"You're so weird, dude," Mark said. They followed Marcus to the side of the towering ship, where he looked up. "What're you looking for?"

"An entrance," Marcus announced. Shielding his eyes from the pouring rain, he looked around for any way to get inside. "There!" he pointed, and there was a large circular opening some twenty feet above them and to the left.

"The escape pods," The Chief said quietly.

"They helped us while we had the ammo," Cortana added as the Chief watched Marcus look around for anything that could get them to that hole.

"Ammo won't be a problem when we're in the armory," the Spartan soldier added, seeing Marcus growing frusturated.

"There has to be a way up and inside!"

"Start piling things up, I guess," Mark sighed in worry, wiping some of his hair back behind his head. "Let's just start with beams and plating, and then we can get the weird shit-"

"Just start grabbing things already," Marcus interrupted, as a loud bang of thunder cut off Mark. "I want out of the storm before we get-"

There was a loud clang of metal that reverberated and caught the entire group's attention. The Chief had walked up to the side of the building, and kicked the metal hard enough to dent it, creating a foot-hole. Then, he punched one not too far above it, just in arms reach, and followed suit. He made his own climbing path up along the side. Eric and Frank, whom had been trying to lift a piece of metal, and they dropped it with a clatter as the Chief made it to the entrance.

"Uh… so, let's climb up there, I guess," Marcus decided after a stunned moment. "Let's get inside before it really becomes dark."

The inside of the ship was dark, and only dimly could the sound of rain be heard, hitting the sides of the ship. From the various well designed metal corridors, echoes of breaches in the hull could be found, as drops of rain fell inside, and echoed loudly. Then there was a hiss and a loud buzz. From one of the man small, sectioned off halls that lead of long departed escape pods, a bright light began to grow, and melt away at the metal blocking away the outside world. Moments later it spewed sparks and molten steel, and began to cut open a door, wide enough for any large figure to enter. Time passed as the sparks struck the floor and spilled about before the path of the welding torch found its way full around.

"Hey, can you kick it open? I think it's not fully-"

The welded open section of the sealed door flew open and slid loudly away, stopping some ten feet away. The noise of the outdoors flooded inside, and the Chief turned on his lights. He was back inside the ship. As he stepped inside, his steps echoed louder than the others, whom seemed timid and reluctant to step inside without caution.

"Wow. This place looks nice," Mark said, the first to comment and walk inside.

"Talk about some kind of weld-work…" Baird added as he climbed inside, and looked about. "This place _is_ nice."

"You want to talk about weld work? I'd like to know the mechanical specifications of your robot," Cortana added, as the Jack that had opened the hole floated inside, hovering next to Marcus.

"Well, we're inside," Marcus said with a sigh, he then raised his hand to his head, and called," Anya. Come in Anya. This is Delta."

Surprisingly, there was no response. Marcus glanced around. Mark shook his head, and sighed.

"Command, come in, this is Alpha squad. We are with Delta Squad. Come in…" Still, there was nothing. Mark walked over to the entrance and stepped into the rain, now shouting," Command! This is Alpha Squad!"

"We're cut off? For real?" Taylor asked exasperated.

"I don't know… Jack! Can you boost the reception?" Marcus turned to the robot. It gave a series of high-pitched beeps, but did nothing. "That sounded like a robot 'no' if I ever heard it."

"So what're we supposed to do then?" Dom asked, looking outside, where Mark was coming inside while shaking water out of his hear. "Kyrll don't mind if we're indoors either."

"I know… shit," Marcus growled in thought.

"There might be power in here," Cortana stated loudly, catching their attention. "Chief, take me to a terminal," the Spartan moved back towards a darkened screen by a nearby wall, and lifted his hand to the back of his head, and pulled out the AI chip in his helmet. A series of holographic lights appeared above it, and Cortana was finally revealed in her form, a young and attractively built woman with blue skin, divided and constructed with the information process that gave her mind. Her hair was short and cut perfectly before her neck.

Frank could not help but wolf whistle, and Baird chuckled while nodding. Cortana noticed, but said nothing, as she, the chiefs palm activated the terminal. Lights inside the computer flickered, and started ready status's of the ship.

"Oh good, the automated turrets are in full control, awaiting my orders," she said loudly.

"We have auto-mated turrets now?" Eric asked excitedly. Baird and Frank however were less than excited, looking more sick at the prospect that she now controlled possible automated machinery like that, and could point the barrels at them should they annoy her.

"Cortana, you know we don-"

"As for the power," Cortana continued loudly, interrupted the Chief in his announcement of there being no automated turrets," it looks like we are in luck… I think. It might be one of the power conduits, but I think that our generator is working…" And then there was a loud whirr from deep inside the ship. The lights in the ceiling and walls flickered, and hummed to life. The boys and men cheered, and then the lights died. "Damn! It is a conduit."

"Oh… so, what do we do?" Cole asked.

"We fix the damn conduit of course," Baird said loudly," so where do we go?"

"It's not that simple," Cortana began explaining," we have some thousand feet of cord to look through, and we need to locate any repair equipment that remain on this ship."

"We have jack?" Marcus reminded. "He can do some nice repairs."

"You want to risk a foreign AI into a system that it knows nothing about? You might as well try repairing the system yourself," Cortana scolded him harshly, turning to him with cold eyes," I need to oversee this personally. And unless this 'Jack' has a port for AI assisted processes-"

"Okay, so you have to fix the damn thing then," Marcus growled and nodded," what do we do?"

"Get out of here," Cortana said firmly, turning to the panel, and disappearing inside the panel.

"What?" the Chief said strongly, watching the holo-chip fade away from her light, and he slipped it back in his helmet. The panel remained alive and lit, and her voice called into their speakers.

"I need to stay here and run diagnostic sweeps of the systems and find out what we need to do to fix her up optionally. But that will take hours, and then even after I find out where the bug in the system is, it could take us time to salvage the required parts. You all," the Chief turned to the men and teenagers," need to get in contact with your superiors and find out where the signal block is coming from.

"It could be Seeders," Dom suggested.

"It might be," Baird said in agreement, and Dom looked with surprise at the usually argumentative man," but it's probably just the storm. It looked a little more charged than a normal thunderstorm. A severe storm can knock out our communications."

"So… what do we do?" Eric asked.

"We either need to boost the signal here, or find a place that won't have comms block out," Marcus stated aloud and clear," hey, Cortana, is there anything like that on this thing?"

"The radio spires were on the front half of the ship," and when Marcus nodded and started to turn back to his Squad, she clarified," that would be the side that is missing."

"You're full of good news, you know that?" he said grimly.

"Sorry. And you all need to find out what to do; you're running out of daylight, and there isn't a way for the next… seven or eight hours I can possibly power enough light to keep away the Kryll," she said hurriedly. Then the chief turned back to her.

"This way to the armory?" he asked, pointing down the hall.

"Yes," she said, and he made off.

"Chief?" Mark asked.

"We're going to need new weapons, no matter what we do. So, let's go see if we can get a ride while we're at it," He said, and lead the way down the hall, his lights piercing the darkness. They continued down the halls, turning wherever arrows on the walls pointed to the armory, and finally found themselves at the closed off doors.

"I got this one," Cortana announced in their comm system, and the doors jittered aside.

"Woah! Is that… is that a tank?" Eric asked, spotting the Scorpion Tank that was covered with various tossed and broken crates.

"Give me some lights, Cortana," The Chief asked.

"I'll do what I can," she said, and several dim lights flickered on by the weapons lockers. The Gears spotted the various locked weapons and immediately went for them first.

"You can look at the tank later," The Chief told Eric, who was transfixed with the armored vehicle, its massive cannon poking out.

"Look at this thing," Dom said, pulling down one of the standard MA5 Assault rifles. Smooth and well designed, it was dark grey in color, with several glowing buttons on its side, and a blank dark screen nearby the butt of the gun. But as Dom raised the gun into his hands, and clicked on one of the buttons, the screen blipped the life, and displayed '60'. "This thing tells you how many rounds it's holding? Damn!"

"How about this one?" Mark pulled out a boxier, lighter looking gun with longer barrel than the last. A BR5 Battle rifle was in his hand, and he the Magazine slot, and grabbed one nearby, and slide it inside. Aside from having an attached sight on the top of the gun, also like the Assault rifle, an electronic notification of the clip size appeared, and told him '36'. "Sweet!"

"Long range," The Chief pointed to the battle rifle, and then pointed the Assault," short range."

"Okay then," Mark nodded, and started adjusting the sights for his use.

"This one looks nice," Cole said, lifting a large shotgun out, looking around for anything particularly amazing," what's this one do?"

"…It's a shotgun," The Chief said plainly," you know… like the ones you had."

"Oh… well, it'll kill a Locust, won't it?" He nodded and started loading it.

"Heeeeeerreee we goooo," Frank said, as he pulled down a large weapon from a cabinet, and let it sit on his shoulders, but tottered back and forth, the weight being a little to much for him.

"Put that back," the chief stated, lifting the M41 Rocket Launcher off his shoulders and in his arms," that's dangerous."

"Isn't that the point?" Frank asked, but started to put the Rocket Launcher back.

"Carey," Mark said, tossing him a particularly massive Sniper Rifle," I think that'll do you well," he said with a grin. Carey, who had been sadly examining the Battle Rifle caught the large 99D-S2 Sniper Rifle and almost immediately cradled it. With an impressive zoom feature, huge barrel, and enormous round sizes, the stoic man almost immediately fell in love with the gun he held. "Okay, a little weird again," Mark said after Carey hugged the weapon.

"Sorry… I like it," Carey said with a smirk.

"Grenades, new guns that we can use, and a few things of first aid… if we had a basket I'd say we'd have ourselves a picnic," Marcus said out loud, happy with his new Assault Rifle," wish I could trade the flashlight for a chainsaw though."

"Just think of it as a Kryll chainsaw," Dom joked as they all wrapped up their collecting of weaponry. The chief was already walking away, towards the mess of boxes and the tank. "Chief?"

"I'm getting us our ride," he said out loud, and disappeared behind some of the wreckage. A moment later, with a loud grunt, a Armored Warthog can rolling out, with the Chief pushing it from the front.

"Damn! I thought that rocket launcher was big! That's… that's bigger than a troika!" Frank said with wide eyes, staring at the Mounted Chaingun on the car. The Chief wasn't done with his delivering of presents. Again and again he went inside the mess, even sometimes kicking out the way clearly heavy boxes filled with spare parts, and pushing out two more Warthogs. One was similarly mounted with a thicker looking weapon, with a single thick barrel with exhaust ports along the side, and the last had no back seat mounted gun, but instead looked reinforced, and had two seats. Finally, the chief retrieved a diminutively small and off-road looking Mongoose.

"Cortana," the Chief said, after checking that each of the cars had been fueled up and ready to perform," lower the Armory bay doors."

"Okay… good luck, stay safe boys," she said, and the lights by the armory died away, putting them in darkness for a moment. Loudly, the massive doors opened, sliding aside and spilling light into the armory.

"Damn it is bright out there," Howard stated, shielding his eyes.

"Not bright enough," Marcus commented, and climbed into the driver side of the first Warthog," let's get rolling!"

"Roger that, baby!" Cole shouted as he climbed into the car with the largest gun, and took the gunner spot. The teens got into the car with Howard and Taylor, while Carey and Mark got into the Car with Marcus as the Driver, and Baird, Taylor and Cole had their own Warthog. The Chief revved the comparatively smaller Mongoose, and turned it to face the now fully open doors.

"Cortana, when we're gone, close the doors behind us," The Chief stated," it's bad enough that there could be things crawling inside here."

"So, where are we going to?" Baird called over the radio, as the noise of the four vehicles drowned any chances of car-to-car shouting. There was a moment of pause, as the group had no idea where to go. The storm had yet to truly calm down, still booming with lighting and thunder and drowning the ground with rain. "Anyone? Or are we going to go drive around until we get a signal?"

"I got a place with signal," Eric said, picking up one of the car communicators," it's in the city though. To the south- It's protected enough."

"What?" Baird asked quickly," a stranded place? Again?!"

"Shut up Baird," Marcus said loudly," are you sure it's safe?"

"When we get there, yeah… I don't know about getting there though-"

"Get in the front- switch with me," Carey said quickly, and let Eric take the front passenger.

"Howard, Eric," Mark called through the radio," You lead the way. We'll come up behind you one by one. Just get us to this place and if we run into any problems… we got some big guns."

"Let's move," Marcus said, and Howard put on the gas. The Warthog veered out, easily steering into the wrecked outside, and steering past the piles of debris when needed. One by one, the others followed, and finally the chief, loaded once again with the weapons he knew and preferred, looked back once more.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," Cortana called to his comm. system. "Just watch over them for the night, and bring them back."

"Yes ma'am," he nodded, and drove out after the others. Once he left, the doors slowly began to pull back together, enclosing the armory in darkness.

* * *

Talk about bad luck. One moment you're sure the job is done, and then the next… you have to go running back to call your boss to let 'em know you DID the job! UGH. Talk about inconvenient, right? Clearly, this calls for a 'THANKS OBAMA!' moment.

So, I've been getting a few reviews from you guys reminding me that the Kryll were wiped out after the Lightmass bomb. This makes me kinda happy, because that means you guys are observant enough for me to know I've been doing good with the story as so far, otherwise you'd all let me know. But, I must remind you- this is four days after the Lightmass attack supposedly, and between GoW1 and 2 (6 Months), the Kryll disappeared. So, yeah, their habitats are destroyed, but you need to give it some time. Don't worry, I knew this one guys. ;-)

The Joker: But you didn't know where I got these scars.

You're right, I di… what are you doing in my room?

The Joker: Making a wager… to see… how serious you are.

… you are joking, right? I write fan fiction, so let's say on a level of one to WHERE'S RACHEAL!? I'm a close 3.

The Joker: That's a relief. (Throws a water balloon filled with gasoline at EZB, which bursts and covers his face with it. He then throws a lit match on him, and EZB screams and runs around flailing his arms) And here I heard you say you weren't serious.


	10. Midnight Riders

"These things sure don't lack any speed, do they?" Taylor shouted from the side seat, blinking and wiping out the rain that pelted his eyes.

"It's all about armor versus mobility," Howard shouted next to him, his hands grabbing the wheel. "Some people like being on their feet, and some like standing tall."

"What's better versus the Locust?" Frank asked. Howard, who was driving the personnel carrier Warthog with Taylor and the two stranded, considered giving it a thoughtful answer, having seen enough combat to make an assessment of a proper answer. However, as he trained his eyes ahead in the distance, he couldn't settle on an answer. He looked into the back mirror behind the teens to the forest.

The two warthogs and mongoose were flying through an old dirt path that supposedly lead to the main highway. From there, it was up to Eric to guide the crew in the best possible path to safety. They only had a few hours before night fell, and Kryll rose up from the depths of Sera.

"Man, this thing turns real fast," Cole shouted in glee, adjusting the angles and turn of the top gauss gun. "Grubs better watch their asses now! The Cole Train is on tracks!"

"You're in a car, man," Baird shouted as he turned, following Marcus's warthog in a tight turn.

"So," Mark turned to Marcus," you expecting heat when we get back inside the city?"

"Yup," Marcus said simply.

"Locust, right?" Mark clarified, shouting slightly as a clap of thundered rumbled around them.

"And if we don't hurry our asses, Kyrll. Why?"

"You don't think we'll have to worry about aggressive stranded?" Mark asked with uncertainty," we've got some nice looking weaponry."

"What makes you think they'll want to shoot at anything with this kind of punch?" Marcus asked as he checked behind him after a heavy landing from a bump in the road.

"It's… I just hear stories…" Mark murmured worriedly. "I mean, it's one thing to go shooting at grubs, but I'm not looking forward to killing other humans."

"Me neither. That doesn't mean it wont happen though. As far as I'm concerned," Marcus turned briefly to look at Mark," Stranded are just like anyone else in a shitty situation. They'll make the best of what they get, and if that means trying to kill a Gear, then we need to be ready."

"R-right," Mark said with a deep sigh. "Poor bastards."

"They don't need you to tell that," Marcus agreed.

"Road is coming up," Carey stated from the back loudly. As Marcus peered through the bumpy and slightly overgrown road, he spotted crumbling pavement, and some twisted metal where street signs had once stood.

"Okay," Marcus said, calling through their local comms," we're coming up to the main road. Take a left back into the city-"

"There's a bridge," Carey announced.

"-and watch out for any parts of the road that gave away. Stay close behind one another!" Marcus ordered and put both hands back on the wheel as he turned the warthog to the left.

Merging into the empty strip of broken road, the Warthogs wheels grabbed the concrete and pushed forward easily, and Marcus turned to the right side of the bridge, where it had not fallen away yet. As he crossed, turning here and there to avoid burnt out and destroyed vehicles from before E-Day, he got a glance over the bridge. What was left of the underpass was possibly the same river that spewed out from the sewers underneath.

He still couldn't believe that this was happening. Marcus lived forward, always pushing ahead in life, rarely looking back behind him. Looking back meant addressing the wounds time and war had given him, physically and mentally, so he continued trudging on. Yet, here he was, walking away from the supposedly end of the mission, the end of the days troubles, and in relative safety, only to drive back into the burnt hellhole of a ruined city.

Sector Sv-7 wasn't the worst spot in the world for Marcus and the present Gears to be sent out on, but only a few places on Sera are considered Human-safe. The rest are always a threat. But Sv-7 had a good mix of things to worry about. The various threats went from falling apart buildings, Locust ambushes and outposts, and marauding Stranded. The stranded, at least in the case of attacking other Gears, had been almost non-heard of. While they don't recognize the authority of Cogs, they avoid combat with them, as they at minimum recognize their superior condition weaponry.

Still, several reports had come in about Strandeds who had taken down lost squads of Gears, killed the men and taken whatever they could off their bodies. While these stories were unconfirmed, and the ideas that stranded out there had the time to plot and strategize ways of taking down Gears seemed unreasonable.

"Alright kid," Marcus called over the comms again as the car passed under a small tunnel leading to the inside city," where are we heading to?"

"Start going south west. But more south than west," Eric called over Taylor's communicator. "We should see lights before we get there- they should be setting them up already."

"Lets hope so. It's already pretty dark," Baird called in as well. "What's our estimation until we get there anyway?"

"Uh… like, twenty minutes?" Eric guessed. "It took me and the guys a day to get where we met up with you, but we didn't have cars. And there were a lot of locust around too."

"Alright. Keep your eyes peeled then. There still could be Locust out there. There always is," Marcus finalized, and flicked on the lights to his Warthog.

Behind the trail of Warthogs, the Chief was riding quietly as he could. Sure, they had some serious firepower and armor with them now, and as he had seen, these men were more than just competent, but it worried him. Four loud vehicles riding through a ruined and enemy-occupied city was one thing. Hell, the guys riding them being loud, and as the Chief watched Cole, a Warthog ahead of the last one, getting gun-happy with the mounted weapons, was another thing altogether. It was them riding through a city that was bunkering in for the night that truly made him cautious. In this setting, as others began to hide away, turn on lights, and stay quiet, they would start to stand out more. He knew they could take the heat, but it would slow them down. Not only that, but from what the Chief had seen, no amount of bullets would ever stop a Kryll swarm. It was a race, but if they went as fast as they could, they ran the risk of be caught in the travels, and de-railed. If they went too quietly and slowed down, they couldn't make it in time to this supposedly safe area.

_Cortana would know what to do_, the Chief thought to himself. _Or at least she would tell us what_.

It was odd for him to be separated from her again already. Granted, if the storm had not been present, he could still be in contact with her now. But she had remained behind, and it made him even more uneasy. He had spent days and countless hours blasting through Covenant alien forces and mutant creatures of the Flood to get her back to him, and only after having her back under his protection, this had happened. Stuck on a new world, with new people, and new enemies.

"Shit!" Marcus screamed and slammed the breaks. He had made a turn into a large alley, only to stop almost immediately. Half of the building next to him had collapsed and filled the pass before them. "Damn. Hey Baird," Marcus turned to look around behind him," back off, this way is blocked."

"Oh come on," Baird growled, but complied. He had just started to pull in, and slowed just enough to easily pull out. Marcus kept his eye on the back, but Mark was watching ahead.

"Sergeant," Mark said worriedly," Marcus!" Mark said again when Marcus did not respond.

"What?" he turned to face the man sitting next to him. Mark's eyes were ahead, watching the blockage in front of them. Marcus hadn't noticed, but there at the floor of the pile was another, smaller pile, made of bodies and limbs. "Oh shit… what the hell?" he asked, still backing the car up. There were blood splatters all around the pile, but few actually coating the slabs of concrete and wall that had crumbled and fallen to the side. Most of the blood sprays happened to cover the floor, which had Marcus pause only for a second. There were clearly bullet wounds in some of the bodies only ten or fifteen feet in front of him, but on the wall, there were only a few bullet wounds.

"Look up!" Carey shouted. The two Sergeants complied, and looked to the left, at the exposed and broken building. Poking out from three floors up was a Locust Grub, growling at them and about to raise over the railing a rifle. Mark was quicker though, and using the new rifle from the crashed space-ship, fired three bursts of gun shots. The Grub was struck in the face, and fell over the railing, and hit the hood of the Warthog, splashing blood around. It slid off, and Mark whistled. The gun was more accurate than what he was used to, and the hood of the Warthog was undamaged.

"Nice," Mark said with a sigh, but he gasped and grabbed the car, as Marcus floored the reverse and they roared out of the alley.

"We're getting out of here, now!" Marcus ordered," Grubs are incoming!"

"Oh hell yeah!" Cole roared with glee," just tell me where and we can see what this baby does!"

Marcus floored the gas on the Warthog again, and the front Warthog took off, leading the now cacophonous charge down the main road. With the three other cars follow behind, it became a noisy race to the finish.

To the sides of the roads, more hisses and roars of anger caught the Gear's attention. Grubs, many of the Locust soldiers, began to point and growled, grabbing weapons and arming to shoot. After a point from Mark, Carey turned towards one of the buildings with the large quantity of enemies, and pulled the triggers. A moment passed where the barrel spun up, and then the spit-fire of a chain gun unloaded. Hundreds of bullets stormed through the air with a deafening and continuous hum of the M41 Vulcan machine gun. Many of the exposed Grubs instantly fell off the ledges, killed from the rain of death that one of the mounted guns could do.

"Damn man!" Cole shouted, slightly bummed," Save some for me!" his gun, heavier than the machine gun, took longer to get into position, and by the time he had, he couldn't spot any of the other Grubs. "Oh c'mon man."

"You'll get more," Dom assured him," I think we just scared off any surprise attacks these guys might have for us."

"Let 'em try," Cole said with his usual energy," you can't get the jump of the Cole train- he's always ready for the hustle!"

"More on the canal!" Baird shouted out, pointing to the left again. Similar to the Canals the Chief landed, a dozen or so Grubs had taken positions, and began to fire back at the passing cars. "Shit!" Baird said as a bullet ricocheted off the windshield.

"Okay, here we go!" Cole said with energy, swiveling his gun around. As he got primed and ready, Carey had begun to fire as well, and even Dom stood up on the seat, holding the support bar that divided the top of the Warthog, and shoot back at the Locust. Behind them, everyone but Howard, driving and trying to stay as low as possible which was an impressive feat given his large size, were shooting as well. Even the chief shot back, lifting is left arm up and blindly shooting back at the hiding forces. But finally Cole was able to test his new gun. A click of his trigger later, a loud metallic bang announced a sonic-speed solid slug traveling through the air, and through a Grub's barricade.

"Oh…" Cole almost stopped in an induced stupor. Not only did the concrete slab the Grub hid behind explode instantly, not only did the Grub explode as the slug passed through the barricade and then through the Locusts body, but the resulting explosion kill nearby surrounding Grubs," I think I'm in LOOOVE MAN!" He began shooting as fast as the machine could, blasting away at the small protection the grubs had, who were as shocked by the weapons performance as Cole was entranced.

"FUCK! That thing is loud!" Baird screamed, wincing each shot Cole gave.

"Deal with it!" Dom shouted, also wincing, but firing along non the less," it's killing a ton of the fuckers!"

Cole screamed as again and again he took out a Locust. One grub here, he ripped it's head clean off, another exploded at the waist, another flew backwards as the momentum of the shot carried it's body so far back that the impact against the building behind it did more visible damage than the actual projectile. With the combined efforts of the line of cars, they demolished the twenty or so grubs in a matter of moments.

"Side show one, over and done," Mark sighed as he slid back into his seat, letting his rifle cool off.

"Don't think we need to stop for souvenirs do we?" Marcus asked jokingly.

"I got all the presents I could ever need," Cole announced happily from the middle of the car line," this thing is about as pretty as a Hammer of Dawn."

"Turn there!" Eric shouted at Taylor as he pointed at a coming turn, who nodded and called through the comms.

"Kid says we need to turn up ahead, next to the crater," Taylor called through.

"Alright," Marcus answered as he gripped the wheel for the turn," how close you think we are, kid?"

"We're close!" he called back, looking about carefully.

Marcus nodded and made the turn, spotting ahead a large parking lot of sorts, still surrounded by broken buildings. Several chunks of the level concrete had given away to small blast craters, and there were still many skeleton cars lingering around. But then Marcus saw, emerging slowly from behind the collection of burnt cars in the center of the parking lot, two boomers. One to each side of the pile, their large rocket launchers primed and aimed for them.

"FUCK!" Marcus said, making a desperate turn away from them, the wheels skidding with such a forceful spin, and almost toppling. Carey and Mark were quick to begin shooting at one, who quickly fell to the gunfire, but as the first died, the other turned to the car, and fired its round. The three rockets mostly missed. The first one struck the side of the front, but the other two skidded under the car and blew up behind Marcus, toppling the Warthog into the air, flying towards the still alive boomer. In the blur, as Carey was tossed from the vehical, Marcus and Mark desperately held onto the inside of the mostly exposed vehicle, trying their might to keep themselves inside and fight against the inertial forces. The Boomer was quickly crushed, pinned against another car and the upper windshield, which as the warthog came to a halt, was facing the concrete.

"Oh damn," Mark groaned as he pulled himself out, hearing the cries from the others," Carey? Carey, come in!?" Mark ordered, getting up, and looking around.

"Here," a hand rose up from one of the craters, and Carey, lying on his back, was spotted by his Sergeant.

"You good?" Mark said, running to his side.

"Give me a bit," Carey said simply," and find my gun."

There was another blast of an explosion, and three more boomers were walking out from their far left, their rockets soaring through the air. Mark went back for the car, sliding through glass and chips of metal and concrete, grabbing a rifle he spotted on the ground, and tossing it to Carey. He then raised his own pistol up, and began taking shots at the three oncoming soldiers. Then there was more. More Locust.

"It was a trap!" Marcus yelled as he retreated to Mark's position, after crawling out of the driver seat. There were more locust in the buildings second lever, providing more support; possibly forty or so Locust all shooting down the flipped Warthog.

"Get out of there!" Baird yelled through the comms, as he and the other Cars drover past the spot, and skidded around, turning around," Find some better cover, damn it! We'll keep them busy!"

"Get to safety," the chief said simply, driving past them slowly, and then turning to the enemy.

"Let's go!" Marcus shouted, as he and Mark ran for the Crater, lifted Carey up and an arm under his, started running for the other side, where decent cover awaited. Behind them, Baird had taken his words almost literally. He had directly pointed the Warthog at the trio of Boomers, and with a slam of his gas pedal, drove over two of them quickly before they got another rocket shot out. Cole was screaming wildly, happily, as it seemed no matter where he turned, there was a Locust he could shoot down. Behind them, the Car with the Stranded boys and Howard provided another target, as they drove over the remaining Boomer, and shoot at the approaching Locust who started paying too much attention to Baird's car.

The chief then plunged into the sparse crowd of Locust. With one of his guns out, he shoot at those he passed, aiming for the softer spots he could. The head, the knees, and arms were his target. He knew at this point if he didn't kill the Locust the guys behind him would. But a Locust got too close for him, and when he went to kill it, it grabbed his rifle, and wouldn't let go. The Chief felt the Mongoose slowly turn, as the Locust ignored the dragging from the vehicle. Spartan 117 had enough of this guy, he could keep his gun. Reaching over with his hand, he grabbed it by the neck, and lifted the soldier into the air. Turning the Mongoose drastically, he then threw the Locust as hard as he could into a cluster of oncoming Locust.

The momentum of the throw had put the Mongoose off-balance. The Chief wasn't going to be left uncertain to fall or not. He kicked his feet out, landed them onto the solid ground, and with his hands still on the handlebars, spun. He threw the Mongoose at the closest Grub, who caved in and was crushed, and so were the next four or five who didn't move out of the Mongoose path. The Spartan was now alone though, and leapt back through the air, and in mid-flip, retracted his rifle, and began shooting at the many soldiers before he even hit the ground. The closest to him dead, he began running backwards, shooting a few more he considered an immediate threat.

The Spartan felt it before he heard it. Piercing through his shields, a sniper round barley grazed his armor. He was now exposed, and he turned, leaping over the flipped warthog for cover.

"We got him!" Cole shouted, the Warthog skidding past his spot, where he waited for his shields to re-charge. True to his word, Cole quickly began shooting down the spot the Locust sniper had been, on the same second story spot the other Locust had been. Howard pulled up to the chief, the guns all facing the Locust.

"Do you need cover!?" Howard shouted.

"Keep them safe," the Chief pointed to a still retreating Marcus and Mark, and the injured Carey," I'll be fine." Howard nodded and drove after Baird's warthog.

"Come on, eat it for breakfast, grubbies!" Cole roared and hooted as he again and again blew apart grub after grub.

"Don't you go saying that," Baird roared, aiming to hit one particular grub who he spotted trying to be bold and charge at the chief. He was flattened quickly under the wheels, and Baird growled in delight," stupid asshole."

"Hey," Marcus called in from the comms," do any of you guys feel that?"

"Feel what?" Dom replied, the others being taken at the moment.

"Shaking," Mark added in through the comms," oh god, to the north! Back from the canals! LOOK!" Mark shouted through the comms so everyone could hear him. There, climbing over and down from one of the broken buildings, was a Corpser.

"SHARP TURN!" Baird cried, and spun the wheel as sharply as he could, but the Corpser was already on them. While Cole got three shots on the beast, it still had the last, and most dramatic hit. It struck the ground just before the Warthog, and then lifted its spidery appendages up quickly, smashing the Warthog away, and striking Howards before he could react.

"NO!" Mark shouted, and grabbing his pistol, he ran for the cars.

"Sergeant!" Carey shouted, and Marcus growled, and joined the run. Bairds car was flipped to its side, and the men were scrambling to get out, as the Corpser was getting closer, but they couldn't get any further, with the Locust grubs still bearing down on them. Howards warthog was less damaged, but Howard could no longer drive, having a large gash on his forehead, and having passed out. As the Stranded climbed out of the back, and took cover, Taylor did his best to drag him out the safer side, away from the Locust.

"Carey, watch and give us cover!" Mark ordered as he dived into the heat of battle, and coming to rest at the spot the Chief had taken. "We need to get to the others!" he shouted at the large green armored man.

"I'll give you a distraction," the chief stated, and stood up, firing at the Grubs. The two sergeants took their chance and ran to their squad members. Mark made it to his men first, and made to get Howard back to his feet. Marcus ran past, and go to his men, retreating from the imposing Corpser.

"No more running," Marcus ordered, and raised his gun to the Corpser," we take out this son of a bitch here."

"I hear that," Dom agreed, and the four of them raised their guns, and waited for the Corpser to expose it's less armored body and head from under it's arms.

There was a groaning of metal, and Marcus turned around, worried for another potential threat. However, he was shocked. The Chief was lifting the entire side of the Warthog up and back onto it's wheels. Not only that, when he was done, he reached up to the cabling and support to the chaingun, and ripped them all out. He, with both hands, raised up the machine gun, and leveled it, pointing it towards the Corpser.

"Need a hand?" he asked. He began stepping forward as Marks squad retreated, firing at the Locust as they did. Then the Chief turned the gun on. Spraying bullets to his right, he killed, if not put into shock, many of the advancing grubs. Again he did it, blasting the field with a storm of hot steel.

"Here it comes!" Marcus roared. The Corpser was ready to attack, and lifted two of its large arms up, to strike down at the four. As Marcus and his four men raised their weapons, so did the chief turn, and run towards the Monster, as fast as he could while carrying the formerly mounted weapon. They shot and the Corpser recoiled, feeling the sting of weaponry hit it's more sensitive and frail flesh. But as it lowered the arms to protect itself, the Chief ran past the gap. The Corpser looked down just in time to see the chief activating his weapon, and pointing it at its face. The Corsper was instantly blinded, having almost all vision ripped away by an unrelenting hail of bullets.

"Kill it!" Marcus ordered, and the four also engaged the monster, and they finally saw bits and pieces of the inside of a Corpsers head. The head and face of the Corpser was shredded, blood and flesh streaming away like it was being melted, and as the chief backed off, it collapsed, only twitching slightly.

"And there they go," Baird said, turning to face the Locust, who had started retreating. "Bunch of pussies can't stand to see their pet get shot up, can they?"

"I guess not," Marcus sighed, and looked around. Their vehicles, whiled damaged were still sounding operational. But there was an outcry.

"Get in the cars!" Eric shouted, running towards the one he had been in with Frank, who was also running. "Get in! We need to go!"

"What? We just won, didn't we?" Dom asked, with uncertainty. The two strandeds looked panicked, and were glancing at the darkening sky, searching the cars for something.

"We need to get moving before nightfall!" Frank reminded them," or we're Kryll bait!"

"Oh… oh shit," Mark said, looking at his two injured squad-mates," Taylor, grab Carey!"

"I can walk!" Carey shouted, getting up and running to the cars himself.

"Then help me get up Fortcheril here!" Mark said, straining to lift the large Howard up. With Taylors help, they got him up, and started hobbling over to the Warthogs.

There was a growing rumbling, and the two Strandeds looked towards the west, where the sun was setting. There was a screech in the distance, and a more frightening sound.

"Oh shit… oh shit!" Dom said, running to the closest warthog," Flares!" he shouted, and tossed several about," are these good enough?" he flicked one on, and held it up.

"How long do they last?" Eric ask worriedly to the Chief, who was busing watching the dark horizon," how long!?"

"A few hours," the chief stated, and Eric looked worried.

"We need to… oh god," he said, and the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the broken buildings they should have been driving through by now.

"Life your flares up! Keep 'em up!" Marcus shouted as he piled into the Warthog," we're going to keep moving, even if-"

Whatever else he said was drowned by the sheer uproar of Kryll that sprang from the depths around them. Like in the tunnel, but in numbers uncountable, they covered the sky like a black cloud against an already darkening sky. The Kryll it seemed had spotted the men in the parking lot, and began to spin and swarm around them, almost creating a tornado like-effect around them, avoiding the harmful lights of the torches, but preventing them from moving.

And then there was a bright, blue light.

Kyrll screeched, scattered, or fell to the ground, burning. The men, excepting the chief and the stranded covered their eyes to the sudden brightness.

"Weapons down, and out of the vehicles, and we'll get you to where it's safe," a voice called from the distance."

* * *

Phew! And here we all thought they;d be kryll bait for sure! Or a jill sandwich!

So this was a really fun chapter to write. Combat, it seems, is this stories strong suite. And of course a chance for the Chief to show off? Oh hell yeah! But who are these newcomers with bright lights?! Are they a threat to the Z fighters? Will Goku arrive in time to save his friends?

FIND OUT ON THE NEXT EXCITING EPISODE OF...

Wait. (checks title of the series) Shit. My bad.

Well, you know the drill my friends- review and leave your thoughts! I always love hearing your interest into the series. (the computer screen begins puking rainbows at EZB) OH GOD! Eww- pth! It tastes like distilled friendship! Ugh! (EZB begins puking rainbows back at the computer, who then pukes MORE rainbows at EZB) OH COME ON! Ugh... no... I'll be the bigger man... (EZB decides not to be the bigger man, and tries to puke again on the computer, but the Computer is stronger and faster with its rainbow vomit, and hits EZB so hard and fast with it that he is ejected into the atmosphere.)


	11. New Rexington

"I repeat, hands in the air, and weapons on the ground!"

"Shit," Baird said, his hands up in his face as he tried peering through the bright lights surrounding them.

"What do you see, chief?" Mark asked, not ready to lower his gun quite yet. The Spartan was turning slightly, scanning the tops of the buildings. Surrounding them perfectly it seemed were large spotlights, manned by several individuals. These men were all armed, and those not operating the lights had their guns all trained onto the group. They were easily outgunned again, and the men had taken much better spots than previously.

"Last chance, put your weapons down!" a man shouted.

"We're surrounded," the chief said, and placed down the chain gun.

"Shit," Marcus groaned, and threw down his own rifle. The group all followed, the rattling of metal hitting the concrete ending after a second or so.

"We are sending a group to meet you," the voice continued," stay put and don't go for your guns or you will be shot on sight!" once again they were ordered around.

"Strandeds," Baird nodded," gotta be Strandeds."

"Chill," Dom said nervously," the last thing we need is for you to piss off more of these guys."

From one of the buildings a glowing light started to grow, and finally emerge from the ruins. A group of five men in scavenged and shoddy looking armor approached, lined with glowing lights of the same type. The lead of the group was a tall, heavily built with a buzz cut. As he got closer, the chief noticed he was wearing welding goggles. His dark skin reflected little of the light coming off his armor and his comrades armor. Finally the group of five were feet from the eleven.

"So… what do we have here?" the tall and very large man growled, his voice deeper than Marcus's. "Some Gears all going for a joy ride?"

"We just love the area so much we couldn't help it," Taylor replied sarcastically. The man didn't seem to notice him, but responded non the less.

"That's our turf you're tearing up, and bringing in Locust shit as well. Goddamn… the amount of bullshit we had to do to keep them away… and you just undid…"

"We came here under the impression you could help us," Marcus said honestly, indicating the cars," we didn't want to cause any problems."

"Gears? Cause problems?" The tall man spat on the ground, and marched closer," I think you've just about got as close as you'll ever get to Rexington."

"Rexington!?" Mark barked in shock," we're going to Rexington?"

"New Rexington," Eric corrected him. The tall man did a double take, and stepped to the side, looking for Eric's voice. And looking past Dom and Marcus, he spotted the young blond teen.

"Well… didn't think I'd ever see this day. Maybe you'd come back crying and upset that you hadn't eaten for days, or maybe you saw some friends die-"

"Some did, Quinton," Eric said harshly," they were killed by a Locust ambush. You see me crying?" The tall man indentified as Quinton sneered, and flicked a switch on his armor, and the lights flickered off on his suit. He reached up and pulled off his glasses, revealing the massive tan the rest of his face had in comparison to his eyes, which were dark blue.

"Your dad was almost about to send a search party for you, you stupid son of a bitch," Quinton said, wiping his eyebrows," now get away from these assholes. We're taking you home."

"They're coming," Eric said firmly. Quinton laughed, his dark chuckle angering Eric further. "I mean it."

"You think we'd let these fascist pieces of shit in our town? For nothing?"

"No… they intend to sell these," Eric pointed a thumb above his shoulder to the Warthogs.

"Wait," Dom said, but Marcus turned to him, putting a hand by his shoulder.

"Let's let this kid do some talking," Marcus said quietly," better than us. These aren't our friend strandeds."

"I… okay, you're right," Dom nodded, and relaxed. Marcus turned back to the two stranded. The taller newcomer was grinning something wicked, glaring down the unflinching teen Eric.

"And you think I'd let these sons of bitches inside my town, for some scrap metal? You're out of your mind, kid," Quinton growled, and reached for the kid's shoulders. Eric stepped back.

"I'm not fucking around! They're offering a trade! My dad's rules are-"

"We're not in your daddy's town, are we?" Quinton stepped closer leaning down to Eric," this land isn't exactly in his control. We're in the wastes. I could have just as easily killed these fucks as well as let them live for their cars, now could I? Or, hell, I could have found El Mercados lost boy out here, just feet from the walls, all shot from a Locust attack while he returned home. So, just do what I-"

"Fuck off, Quinton," Eric growled quickly," you know more than I do that these men are more loyal to my father than to you. If you want to stick around, you know his rules."

"…So do you, boy," Quinton rumbled, standing up again. After a tense moment, he glared around at the others, and then his eyes fell on the Spartan. Maybe it was the prospect or seeing something taller than him in human shape that put him off edge, or it was the un-familiar look of the thing standing amidst the Gears, but he retired his anger, and nodded. "Follow us, assholes, and don't try anything. I'm very much in the mood to see someone die up close."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Taylor said quietly to Mark, who sighed quickly, as his squad dragged Howard with the others. Following the luminescent armored men, they started for the ruins where only minutes ago, Locust had been pouring out of. As Marcus scanned, he spotted where the E-hole had been, and where several grub bodies lay. Two of the other unnamed soldiers retrieved several of the weapons, and grabbed as much ammo still on the bodies as they could.

"So," Cole said, walking behind Marcus and Dom," Rexington. You ever heard?"

"Not me," Marcus admitted.

"I have," Dom said," it's sort of a Stranded city. They say that as long as you can keep working here, you are welcome to stay. Sort of like a stranded haven."

"I hear it's a crap slum," Baird commented quietly.

"Hey," Frank said, and Baird just looked at him.

"I mean, tell me it isn't crappy compared to a Coalition controlled region," Baird argued.

"We haven't been anywhere outside of the city until kinda recently," Eric admitted from the front," dad wouldn't let me."

"So that's what you were doing out there?" Marcus asked, looking at the blond, "Sight seeing?"

"I was looking for something to change things. I just wanted a taste of something new," Eric tried explaining, growing slightly impatient as they continued to climb through rubble towards an opening ahead. "Life get's boring around Rexington for guys like me."

"Restless bastard," Dom chuckled softly, reflecting a little about himself. However, as he watched Eric climb, he realized something that had been said earlier," hey… you're dad… he's El Mercado?"

"… yeah," Eric turned his head to look at Dom worriedly, continued through the underpass," what about it?"

"What's El Mercado?" Marcus asked.

"C'mon man," Dom gasped and gawked at Marcus," you spend half your life with me and you don't know shit for Spanish, do you? It means 'the Merchant'. And El Mercado is probably one of the strongest Stranded out here," Dom continued, explaining to the group behind him and Marcus as well," he's got the guns and from people say, the food and resources to get what he wants done."

"Wait… little Eric here has been working with us lowly grunts, but he's like… a prince or something?" Cole asked, a grin growing across his face. Eric flipped him the bird, and Cole laughed heartily.

"I'm no prince, and my dad isn't any King," Eric stated," he just likes organization and fair trade. Something about reputation got to him a long time ago…"

"What reputation?" Marcus demanded, squeezing through a low-hanging piece of the ceiling, scraping his bandana slightly, "Ow."

"Well… his. Maybe this will explain a little," Eric said as he stepped out into what looked like more bright lights, and turned, beckoning them to follow," welcome to our gates."

"Well damn," Marcus said in awe, stepping into the light. Dom whistled.

"What?" Mark said as he, Carey and Taylor followed out from behind and into the light," what are we loo- WOAH!"

A huge collection of welded metal sheets was before them, some fifty feet ahead, and easily a hundred feet tall. Bright lights glared over above them, illuminating the entire area in clear white light. Near the tops, fortified and supported balconies were manned by armed soldiers, each holding a rifle of sorts, peering down at the newcomers. The walls stretched and continued to either side, connecting with buildings to the side, being constructed into the broken structures. In front of them the Stranded Quinton lead them towards a large double-door, about fifteen feet high and thirty feet wide. From inside, loud mechanical buzzs and clicks started, and the two gates started to open towards them, revealing even more lights, this time of varying color.

"I guess this explains how they kept out Brumaks and shit," Taylor said, almost dropping Howard.

"How the hell did they build up this wall?" Baird asked as they started walking through the gates," this would have caught anyone's attention! All that welding that must have had to be done…"

"All from his dad and their crew," Frank said," people say Mr. Martinez started working on these walls almost days after E-day, trying to keep people safe and on the down-low."

"It wasn't just him and his friends," Eric sighed, shaking his head from such a myth," he just coordinated the construction well enough. I guess if he hadn't been there to begin with, they probably wouldn't have been able to get it as high as it is now."

"Something that stands out that much must get a lot of attention," Marcus observed, as behind them the gate started to close," they must get a lot of firepower from somewhere."

"Defected soldiers," Quinton interjected from the side, watching them all with cross arms and a bored look," men and woman who get fed up working for you cog shits or who get left behind… who don't get killed or raped by assholes out there, are sent here. Big Boss Martinez has good word with the surrounding gang leaders. They need something, he's good on his word, as long as you pay him back."

"Part time banker, part time rebel, part time merchant… busy," Baird shrugged after he thought of it, receiving a look from the others," what?!"

"Follow me," Quinton stated as he turned and started walking towards the city.

It truly was a different setting inside the walls of this town. Many shacks had been set up on what appeared to be another lost parking lot. Faint lights from the makeshift windows emanated yellow lights while the harsh white light cascaded into the sky, keeping away the Kryll. Past the shacks, and several disgruntled men and woman staring at the group as they passed, where larger, and surprisingly repaired buildings with similar yellow and orange lights. While the repairs were easily makeshift and often times unpleasant to see, they seemed consistent and sturdy. Past those, and what appeared to be the middle of this town, was a large towering building, complete with radio antenna.

"Shit," Eric groaned as they saw the large radio building.

"Close to home, huh?" Mark said, as Eric started to fall in pace.

"I… it's just… I'm not looking forward to this, I guess," Eric attempted summarizing.

"Well, it's not like he'll kill you, will he?" Taylor quickly said, which Eric quickly glanced to him, and then back to the tower. They had started walking past the larger buildings, just as many guards around as by the walls, by the doors of the buildings and on the floors above.

"They aren't kidding, are they?" Dom noticed, keeping an eye out from the men and woman in armor. One spat at their feet.

"Just keep walking," Marcus said. Several of the guards were starting to follow them slowly, curious with their large group, and their big green robot. A similar, but smaller gate stood around the tall radio building, and the most amount of guards were posted here, unflinching and heavily armored, some even with gear that matched the cogs current armor.

"Hey, Frank," Eric said, turning to his friend," you… I'll meet up with you later, okay? Just go to our hangout."

"Fuck that," Frank said," I'm not going back. It'd be weird without Reg or West, since… you know," Frank said uncomfortably.

"You don't wanna stick around man," Eric warned him.

"Shit… okay. I'll meet you by our usual spot," Frank decided and slid back through the group, and ran down the street, only being stopped by one of the guards momentarily, and then let by.

"Adios to you, too," Taylor snorted as Frank rushed past him.

Finally Quinton met the lead guard by the gate, who stepped out to him, a skinner, athletically built man in lighter armor, wearing dark goggles, like Quinton. "Wait here," Quinton said to the group. The guard he met nodded, and opened a door through the wall, and Quinton stepped inside. Once Quinton stepped inside, the lead guard stepped closer. Brushing back his slick brown hair and pulling up his dirty goggles, he tried to get a look at the men before him.

"Damn, and thought taking them off would make you less ugly," the man sighed, wiping his face," so, we got ourselves some Gears of War."

Several of the guards behind them stepped closer; getting better looks at the now ten men, as Eric had put himself as close to the center of the group as possible, minimizing his ability to be seen.

"I was told you guys are bartering something. What is it you come with?" the lead guard asked in more business like tones. Marcus stepped forward, and quickly several other men had their guns trained on him.

"We were led here," Marcus started," with some idea that we could get help."

The man laughed. "Just like that… so, what is it you're going to give us for… help? And what kind of help, be more specific, fascist." Marcus took a second, trying to let the words pass over him.

"We have someone who lives here, who told us we could get your help," Marcus tried, a little less friendly than he had previously.

"Let's seem him, then." Marcus stepped back, and turned, waving for Eric to step out. The teen hesitated, and finally moved, coming out into view. The lead guard's mouth dropped open and he wiped his eyes quickly. "Holy shit!"

"Hey, Luca," Eric said, stepped closer to the man.

"You… you're…" the guard seemed speechless to see Eric before him, and Eric was uncertain of how to react, looking back at the others for clarity, but before they could say anything, the guard stepped closer, turned Eric around, and punched him hard in the gut," you fuckin' asshole!" Eric fell to a knee, coughing. While the guard had struck him, he did not move to hurt him any more, instead backing off, and pacing frantically," you just decided to vanish one day- just pick up and leave- like nothing bad could possibly come from that, could it, you fucking idiot!?"

"Well…" Eric stood back up," I'm back?"

"I…" the man just looked at him, and then started laughing," you stubborn ass of a brother!"

"Brother!?" Baird said in shock as the man called Luca grabbed Eric in a strong embrace.

"You're slow with this kinda shit, aren't you?" Mark stated.

"They don't even look alike though!" Baird exclaimed. Baird, in his usual insensitive self, was right; the two figures were only similar in build. Their skin tone, their hair, and their builds all differed.

"I fucking thought you were gone for good when we couldn't find you!" Worth said excitedly," man, just to think we were a day away sending out scouts to see if we couldn't find a trace of you! Dad was an inch from desperate."

"So, basically sitting in his room, kind of worried," Eric grimly stated, receiving a look from Luca," it's true, dude."

"So… why the hell did you tell these guys they could get our help?" Luca asked to his younger brother, glancing to the gears.

"They… saved me, and I told them where I lived. So they said they'd bring be back, as long as I got a place to stay," Eric explained. Luca, giving them a final glance, looked at his younger brother incredulously. With an arm around his shoulder, he lead him out of earshot from the others, talking to him quietly.

"God damn it," Marcus growled," I hate it when they do that."

"He'll back us up," Dom said, looking at Eric's back," he's not just gunna dump us."

"Why not?" Baird said, agreeing with Marcus," he's home, we're surrounded by these guys, who I'm sure with a command from daddy will shoot us all dead, so why should he give a fuck?"

"Hey," Mark interjected," c'mon now. We fought with this kid."

"He ain't gunna leave us hanging," Cole said confidently. "It'd be a crime against humanity to shut down the Cole Train."

Mark sighed with a smile, and spotted movement to his right, on the other side of Taylor, also carrying Howard. Several of the guards were talking amongst themselves, pointing at him and Howard. After a moment, several of them smiled, and two approached, pointing to Howard.

"Is he dead then?" a pale looking one asked, moving closer to Howard. Mark's instincts lead him away from Howard, who was left for Carey and Taylor to support. Standing between the two newcomer guards and his men, Mark stared down these others.

"No, he's good. What's it to you?" he asked quickly.

"He looks dead to me," the pale guard stated.

"He's not. He's breathing. Why the hell do you care so much?" Mark asked again.

"See, in this town," the pale guy started saying," when someone has been pronounced dead, people get to use whatever that belonged to him or her. So, if you're just trying to keep those goods away from us, you better show us he's alive," he ended, sounding more sinister.

"Fuck. You." Mark said, stepping into the man's face. "You want to go grave rob, you can piss off. No one is dead here."

"No one is dead yet," the pale guard said, licking his teeth quickly," but that can change. Do you have any guns to protect yourself with?"

"Shit like you? I don't need a gun?" Mark retorted.

"Try something then, tough guy-

"That's enough," a louder, stronger voice intruded the conversation between the two, and the Chief stepped in between the staring contest. At first the guard's face contorted with rage, then shock as he stumbled back and sized up the huge man before him, totally armored in unusual armor. Aside from the bright visor on his face, the construct was more complicated than anything he had seen in his life.

"Back off… robot… man," he stumbled on his words, still trying to assert the dominance he had earlier, stepping towards the Chief. "This doesn't concern you."

"It does," the chief stated," it concerns all of us," the chief stated, looking at his nearby comrades," drop it. We'll be going soon."

The man's mouth twitched, and his eyes darkened. Looking around at his fellow guards, he took a moment. Then there was a flash of movement; the guard had grabbed for his pistol, and quickly pointed it at the chief. The Spartan reacted instinctively, slapping away the guards hand to the side. But the man wasn't done- with his other hand, he raised a knife from a holster and went for a stab under the arms, where it was less armored. With the same hand, the chief grabbed the hand quickly, and twisted it. The man groaned, and spun to avoid having his arm break, and was soon in an arm lock.

"Woah!" Luca's voice called out. Several of the other guards had raised their guns on the crowd," the hell are you doing to my men!?" he shouted, walking around to the chief, who had retrieved the dagger, and dropped it easily to the ground, and was pulling the gun out of the mans fingers.

"Avoiding a firefight," the chief stated, letting the man's arm go once he had the handgun in his hands. The guard spun quickly, eyeing the Spartan with contempt.

"This fucker attacked me," the guard grumbled.

"Bullshit!" Mark cried out as Luca came around," he wanted the shit off of my soldier."

"Him?" Luca pointed to the injured man," is he dead?" Mark groaned and shook his head," okay," he turned to the pale man," let it go." The aggressor eyed Luca for a moment, and turned, grabbing his disarmed weaponry, and stowing it away. Luca turned back to the Chief," don't fuck with my men." The Chief stared at Luca, who didn't wait for a response to return to the gates, where Eric stood. "And this is why we don't let gears past the gates!"

"They weren't doing anything!" Eric pointed out.

"They don't get us- they don't get our situation," Luca shouted," and they cause trouble. We don't want them around here, and you knew that!" He walked to Marcus," so… what are we going to do with you all then?" The moment passed where Marcus said nothing, letting his stare let him do the speaking, and Luca, while clearly upset at his guard being put in his place, stepped back, and took a breath. "Start trouble, and you're grub bait. It's as simple as that," Luca said, as he turned to his brother. Just on time, the large Quinton stepped out from the doors, and approached Luca.

"They… uh," Quinton started, eyeing the Gears uncomfortably," can stay."

"Okay. I figured as much," Luca said," dad does things fairly. Which place we putting them in?"

"He said we're keeping them here," Quinton slowly put, each word seeming to pain him," sounds like your boys are better at getting word to him than I am." Luca eyed him, and glanced to the Gears.

"What're you talking about?"

"We're giving you guys several armored vehicles," Marcus stated, catching Luca's attention," for the stay. Hope that's enough for a nights stay," Marcus added begrudgingly.

"What?" Luca turned, glaring at Quinton," you tried stiffing them out!?" Quinton growled, and marched past him and the Gears, several of the other guards following him. "Fuck… Asshole is going to start more fights than finish them."

"So, let's take them inside?" Eric suggested, and Luca nodded. "Sweet… c'mon guys."

They walked through the comparatively narrow doorway and into a small courtyard, the chief having to watch himself as he stepped through. Crates of weapons and ammunitions surrounded them as they approached the large steps leading into the tall radio building. A broken and worn sign of some sort of with the letters "C.T.I." hung in it's rusted image to previous glory. Luca lead them up the mostly intact stone stairs, and towards the large windowed entrance. There, the interior lights poured out, and shiny marble floors reflected much of the other light.

"Your going to be staying on the twelve floor. Stairs can get you anywhere, but buttons with tape over them mean they don't stop there. Dad will want to see you, so go to the top floor," Luca summarized. As they piled into the large elevators, the chief having to take an entirely separate elevator than the others, Luca mentioned as he walked away," and welcome to New Rexington."

"So, to floor seventeen," Eric said as the doors closed, loudly enough for both elevators to hear him," and the doors closed.

"Just… how the hell do elevators work after all this time out here!?" Baird said after a silent moment or two passed in the space.

"You'd be surprised what we lowly Stranded can do, Baird," Eric reminded him," we're smart people too."

"Smart people don't live in those kinds of shitholes," Baird spat, several of the others groaning at his continual bitching. A groan came from Howard, who rubbed his head gingerly, and then looked at Baird, and rolled his eyes.

"You think we want to?" Eric asked, his quiet voice shutting up Baird. Finally the doors opened, and they all piled out.

"'Course he'd be able to get me up," Howard groaned, taking his steps slowly.

"Good to see you back on your feet," Mark said," and off my shoulder."

"Me too," Howard commented," wait…" he looked around, and spotted windows, overlooking the large brightly lit area, and the fact they were very high up," where the hell are we, sir?"

"New Rexington," Mark explained," we're getting cover for the night here."

"New Rexington? Whoa," Howard said.

The group continued walking, Mark and Howard catching up with the others as they marched into the larger floor, decorated and almost lavish looking. There was clearly wear on the walls and several of the decorations had dust gathering on them, from the plastic plants to the old metal statues. Across from this large 'lobby' a pair of doors opened, and a man stepped through. He had tan skin with brown hair, and dark eyes, which seemed to quickly locate each one of the men before him, as he approached them. He wore a business suit, clearly sew together from various tears and rips, but still maintaining a rich appearance.

"So, these are the men who bring my son back to me," El Mercado said as he came to a stop, several feet in front of them," thank you. As for you," he spotted his son, and glared at him," we will finish our talk later. And some more, since you decided to go off an get your friends killed, I hear."

"I didn't-"

"They followed you, and from what I hear, they didn't come back. If you, you of all people came marching back to me, but Reginald did not, it's clear he died while out in the wastes with you. You were responsible for him, and it appears as you have failed. Go wait in your room," he spoke very quickly and precisely, his Hispanic accent coming out when he spoke quicker. Eric stared at him momentarily, and turned from the others, walking down a hall towards other doors. "Forgive me, and my son," he said to the others," we're in a heated debate."

"I can tell," Marcus watched Eric go back to his room, and shared a glance with the boy as he turned and nodded to the others," so, you called us up here? Why?"

"It's not every day I hear of Coalition soldiers offering me deals I cannot refuse," the man stated, a smile growing in his face," several working combat vehicles? For a night's stay? And the cherry on top- you returned my son to me just hours before I send word to my men to begin a search for him."

"Shit," Taylor whispered to Mark," that means all this time he hadn't started looking for him yet."

"None the less," El Mercado continued," I am in the deficit here. I run my operations with one global rule- fair deals, no matter what. And here I am, with a huge offer at my feet. Granted, you and your men, Sergeant Fenix," El Mercado added," are less than desirable in my community. But my reputation must continue to be respected. So… I will ask you all, aside from the room and food and drink I will be giving you this night, is there anything else I can offer, to balance this deal?"

Marcus stared at this man, uncertain of how to react. He could handle the world spitting and cursing at him, from superiors back at Jacinto to Strandeds here in Rexington, but he rarely was told someone owed him. He turned to his squad, and asked," any ideas?"

"I got something," Baird quickly asked.

"No bullshit," Marcus growled.

"No, I'm serious," Baird defended himself heatedly, and stepped closer to the front," that communications array on top of the building? It still work?"

"You mean the radio dish?" El Mercado stated," yes, I use it periodically."

"Okay," Baird said, and stepped back to Marcus and the others," how about we use the communications to update HQ?"

"I like it," Cole added, nodding.

"Same," Dom agreed.

"How about you guys?" Marcus added to the others, who were quietly watching them, and listening.

"Sounds good to me. Just can't believe they were serious about this guy being all about the fair deal," Mark said.

"Alright," Marcus said, turning back to El Mercado," we'd like to use your radio to update our superiors and let them know our progress. Uh… aside from that, when we leave, we'd like protected transport out of the city to the west. From there, we can call it square."

"Hmm… perhaps," El Mercado put his hands together in front of his face, thinking," I can live with that, as you are all Gears. I will ask this of you then. When you have the chance to speak to any of your superiors of this town, you will not speak unfavorably."

"You want us to let everyone know… what?" Marcus asked for clarity.

"Let them know that we do not discriminate a good deal," El Mercado said, and placed his hand before him," so? Do we have a deal Sergeant?" Marcus stared at the hand, and slowly took it with his own, and shook," very good! Now I would ask that you and your men rest in the rooms on floor twelve. And I don't know what kind of living conditions you have at Jacinto, but try to enjoy the view while you can."

* * *

Well, sorry action lovers; not much action in this chapter. But then again, if this story was nothing but a bunch of awesome fights, it'd become Deadliest Warrior, Video game edition.

Wait... does have something like that? Hmm...

Master of the Boot: (Glares at EZB)

Oh. right. :D

Anyway, next chapter won't be as much action packed either, which I know a lot of you come to this story for, but I assure you guys it will be there. So, there. An I would like to formally apologize with not responding to a lot of Reviews you guys have been sending me. First of all, a lot of you dudes don't actually have accounts, so there is no reply button D: HOWEVER I do see them, and really appreciate them.

And as for last week not having an update...

THANKS OBAMA.

Barack Obama: Don't blame me, my friend. Procrastination is no joke. And neither is the secret service. Which should be here... now. (A dozen armed men charge into the room, and blast EZB full of holes)

Master of the Boot: Wow. Nice job, sir. (high five's Obama)


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